Day 144, Saturday, 5/31/08, Year Four Dancer & Daedee: Snow Falling on Eagles

Hello Eagle Friends,

Here it is almost dusk and for the first time in over a week I'm back in Rochester before the sun sets. There is another severe
storm heading this way with 60 MPH winds and damaging hail. You'd think this was July, not the last day of May.

Em went with me today and we found an injured female tiger swallowtail in the road. She is recouping now with my homemade
brew of sugar nectar. I think our other injured female black swallowtail is enjoying her new companion for she climbed on her back and waited to fly.

Even after a week the first butterfly is not able to fly. I don't understand why she can't fly as her wings aren't bent or broken, she has no visible signs of injury and she can flutters but plummets to the ground when she attempts to fly.

The twins, Freedom and Soar, were sitting up at and in full view on nest 6 when we arrived. Linda brought in some food for the
eaglets and headed over to the big pond where I photographed her again fishing above a kingbird who was watching from a sapling over the slough by the pond.

At nest 5 the eaglets were stirring about and we found a 3 foot long garter snake that was fun to observe.

Nest 3 eaglet, our Victory Bell, was being fed by mom or dad when we arrived and I watched a red-winged blackbird female
weaving her nest on the marsh edge while a dragonfly darting to and fro in front of me. Try manually focusing on a moving dragonfly zipping zigways and zagways and you'll get some practice in guesstimating the focal distance.

At nest 2 we found 7 week old Terry Gail pulling apart a fish, slurping up the innards like noodles. I didn't see The Mayor or Judy around her, but I trust one or the other was nearby.

As we were getting ready to hike out to nest 1 a rose-breasted grosbeak flew down in front of me and picked through the sand and gravel by a puddle. Em had never seen one of these beauties before, and she wanted to see my pictures. "Go back, now go forward--ah--put that one on your blog," she said excitedly.

When we reached our main post at nest 1 we found Daniels Charlie dozing off in the shadows of the nest. His little head would droop, then slowly drop down and fall to the side. D'ODEE was watching us from the west side of the nest. He still has his fancy feather crop, even after the rains and getting soaked.

We sat taking turns nabbing little flying beetles from the air. We called them fainting beetles as they would literally play dead for a moment after we caught them and then when we weren't looking they'd fly off again.

We found several red admiral caterpillars rolled in individual silk-tied leaves; barely as big as a speck but bigger than a "who."

Em wanted to gather more snails and slugs and I am convinced one day she'll do a documentary on them with cameras and video quality far better than I'll ever be able to afford.

As I drove out of the valley I noticed our day was ending just as it had started with a young lankly doe feeding, pausing to watch me shoot its picture.

We had been playing tag with the thunderstorm all day long but it never did catch up to us and I'm thankful, ever so thankful for another fun day to explore and teach Em all the reasons to take each grass blade and count it all joy.

I'm looking forward to day 145.

See you on the journey--

Lisa

Day 143, Friday, 5/30/08, Year Four Dancer & Daedee: Snow Falling on Eagles

Hello Eagle Friends,

As I write this tonight there is at least 3 inches of nickle-sized hail in snow cone shaped piles all over my yard, a few buckets full in front of my garage door, and my entire flower bed is sprouting white ice instead of purple pansies. I'm so thankful that I haven't had time to garden or do any landscaping, for it would have all been destroyed in tonight's storm.

Instead, Em and me went down to do the eagle project. There was a "change" of an isolated storm, hardly even something to worry about. We hiked out and sat down at nest 1. The twins were busy trying to dominate the preferred shady spot on the nest.
Hardly with a whisper, Daedee flew in landing above the nest on a overhanging branch.

She was panting heavily and her eyes were wild with news. The twins sat up begging for her to fly down that few feet and join them. A moment later, Dancer came whoosing by, "Get it mom!" Em called, "Did you get the shot?"
"Not what I wanted. I got his foot dropping off the fish." I shrugged it off. I've got all summer now--no time limits to work around.

The twins attacked Dancer for the fish and I surprised Dancer remained on the nest as long as he did, allowing me the opportunity for a couple shots of dad with the kids.

He flew over behind Em and me to the Look Out Tree. When he landed there, Daedee dropped down and immediately began feeding the eaglets. Daniels Charlie received the first feeding. He ate about half of the fish. Then mom pulled a bite out and
walked across the nest to D'ODEE who was crying out and she continued to feed him.

Daniels Charlie came up under his mom, pushed his weight around her and she shoved him back. I took that to mean this was D'ODEE's portion. Daniels Charlie isn't so easily persuaded, so he came up and stole the fish and it was half gone. Daedee wasn't pleased and she rebuked him by stealing it back and slapping him with her beak. Still, he tried again, and again she watched him steal it, and she took it back and fed it slowly, ever-so-slowly, or it must have seemed that way by the way his beak slowly fell open hoping for a chunk D'ODEE missed.

For four nesting seasons I have watched Daedee make sure each eaglet had a portion of the food. She is an exceptional mother, second to none. While the eagles fed, Dancer was chattering non-stop. I couldn't understand why he was so excited.
Finally, Daedee flew over and joined him. Then he started his calling out non-stop again and looking to the west.

That is when I turned and looked and saw the black clouds. The air had been still, and there had been some rumblings in the clouds, but Dancer was giving me the impression that we should leave. He has brought in the news of the storms before, and this appeared to be "hot of the press."

"Em lets close out and go. I think the eagles are telling us to go now, and by the looks of those clouds, we'll be lucky to get back to the truck without getting wet."

Our bright sunny walk had ended in stillness and with gray and black thunderheads looming above us.

We made it back to the truck and all the way to nest 2 before the rain started.

Judy was up on the nest with 54 day old Terry Gail feeding her. I was still there when she finished and flew off to her perch to watch her eaglet.

At nest 6 I could see Linda or Dick up on the nest with one twin in front. The forecast wasn't looking good at all for Olmsted County. I was glad that we were outside the warning area. As we listened to the announcer talk about the nickle and 50 cent piece sized hail pelting Rochester and how bad driving conditions were ten miles from us the radio cut off.

I didn't know if their station went down due to weather, or if they had to quickly take cover. Severe thunderstorm warnings can produce so many giants, it was hard to determine the outcome. The skies looked menacing in the valley, but everything seemed to be going right around us.

When I arrived at nest 5 I found the twins up on the nest and then I shot day 46 of the controlled burn project at that marsh.
Jim from the Dept. of Natural Resources pulled up. He got out and began opening his wallet and pulled out an article he said he would bring for me.

"Lisa if you would be as dedicated to finding this Lake Pepin monster, as you are your eagles, I'll bet you'd be the one to get the reward."

A mere $50,000 to the first person to bring undisputed photographic and scientific proof that this monster of the deep has never been previously scientifically categorized and it must answer to the name Pepie, or at least that is how I read the article.

So not only do I have to find it, I have summon it by name and expect it to follow into the hands of man who would only destroy it's mystery and lure. I better save that one for the history channel or one of those outdoor shows seeking thrills.

Maybe there is a monster in the deep waters, the largest lake on the Mississippi, but the "not knowing" is the part that makes it fun to think about. What fun would it be if someone did locate it, only to find out that it's an overgrown channel catfish, or record size baracuda, or maybe a giant eel pout that some fool dumped in the Mississippi at the very beginning of the river in Itasca State Park in northern Minnesota only to save it from the heap of fish gathered and celebrated over in Walker, Minnesota.

I thanked Jim for bringing that by. I would like to find that monster. I wouldn't do it for the money though. I don't even think
I'd tell anyone if I did find it. It's secret would go with me. That way others could have their chance for fun and the mystery could go on for the next person to discover and claim he or she is the first, and so on.

We moved on to nest 3 and 4. I could see the mom or father eagle up on the nest with Victory Bell, but only sticks on nest 4.
The clouds were breaking up and the sun came out casting strong side lighting across the marshes.

"We're done Em!' I called to my daughter in the back seat. "We will have to stay awhile though. The weather is still too severe around us, we're better off here for now."

She didn't mind. "Let's go look for frogs."
"Deal."
We drove over to the marsh with the attack goose father, and his 6 darlings stirring around with their mom while he hissed and chased every passing vehicle. I have no doubts that I will come by one day and he will be dead in the road from flying into a vehicle. I'm quite certain that he was probably the cause of that second dead goose I found floating by where he keeps his family. He is the most aggressive Canada goose I have ever been around.

While I was photographing some wildflowers on the edge of the marsh I noticed a green frog facing north. I leaned down to photograph him and the darn fool turned and jumped towards his reflection in my lens. I backed up, he followed. I didn't even need to try and catch him he was following me right back to my truck like some possessed frog.

I was actually relieved when he turned and jumped back in the marsh. He reminded me of this garter snake that followed me on my marsh project. His eyes were clouded over as he was obviously getting ready to shed his long, three foot skin, and I ran into that snake three or four times while working a small area. I called him Satan because he wouldn't leave me alone.

Em did some portfolio shots in some wildflowers and we decided to head back to Rochester. The storm was over. I stopped to photograph some ready-to-calf cows looking at me while two little black calves chased each other through the field disappearing into the setting sun. It was a scene straight off a farm or cow journal magazine cover.

When I arrived on the edge of Rochester a heavy fog was covering the roads and the path into the city. I pulled over and shot some neat scenics of Rochester under a fog. I had no idea how bad we had been hit until I stopped at a park where the sun was just going down behind a swing. "Em, one last shot--come with me."

I set her in the swing, and I didn't even have to tell her to put her head back and let her hair blow while her feet kicked her high into the air with the sun silhouetting my girl who is growing up way too fast. The three inches of nickel and dime-sized hail heaped in the foreground of the shot made a rare photo indeed.

There is nothing more valuable than a memory shared and I had many blessings today as did Em. At her school program today, her last day of school for the summer, she made the A Honor Roll, earned a Handwriting Award, and the look on her face when they announced she had, again, earned the President's Award for having the highest GPA in her class made me so proud of her that I know now what it feels like to watch my shadow step out and become her own young lady who rises and shines and rises and rises.

I'm looking forward to day 144.

See you on the journey--

Lisa

Day 142, Thursday, 5/29/08, Year Four Dancer & Daedee: Snow Falling on Eagles

Hello Eagle Friends,

As I type the lightening is flashing through my curtains, the thunder is bellowing out one thundering crack after another, and the rain is pelting the windows. There is nothing like a good spring thunderstorm to clear the air of humidity and wash the land.

Em wanted to come with me again to do the eagle project. I don't think we were ten feet into the field when the rain started.
I got her settled under the overhanging branches, and draped a poncho over the branch to keep her dry. Dancer had just brought in a fish and left it for the twins.

Dancer flew off leaving the twins to figure out for themselves how to feed on their own. I didn't even have to look at a calendar
to know they were 6 weeks. His leaving them with their fish "puzzle" was like handing your child one of those interlocking puzzles and telling them to get their treat by untwisting the pieces where they'll find their treat inside.

Daniels Charlie had control of the fish, a brook trout large enough to make any trout fisherman change over from his fishing flies to eagle talons. Daniels Charlie puffed out his feathers trying to look larger than he was and he spread his wings out slightly to knock back D'ODEE who was endlessly trying to grab the fish.

Still the rain came down and I found myself pushing 1/20th of a second to get the proper exposure at 800 IS0, and then without warning I lost another stop of light and I was shooting at 1600 ISO. When the light was almost as dim as dusk that is when D'ODEE Brian Michael attacked Daniels Charlie.

He came in over Daniels right shoulder and shoved him with his left wing pushing him off balance. In one swift, well planned move he rose up out the nest with a beheaded brook trout dangling from his iron bars beak. Daniels Charlie was trying with all his might to take it back and the two slapped their beaks together.

I've seen it three years in a row now. The youngest eaglet has to fight harder for his meals, and by the time he is 6 to 7 weeks old he is usually the one that dominates the food. I don't know why that is that way other then the older eaglet never had to learn to fight for his food to begin with. He always had it a little easier because he was bigger. Maybe that is a lesson for us all.

We moved on to nest 2 and found 53 day old Terry Gail up on the nest as soaked to the skin as D'ODEE and Daniels Charlie. There is a soulfulness I see in the solo eaglets, a calmness, a look of expectancy to meet the sky means to meet the other eagles. How lonely it must be at their "top."

At nest 6 Linda or Dick was flying overhead, and the twins were walking around the nest. The rain was only sprinkling now and barely denting the marsh surface. Up ahead about four pair of geese were in the deep grasses feeding. I never tire of watching them. Their expressions are wild but with a gentle soulful prayer in their brown eyes.

Their goslings are an endless source of comic relief. Even with their first month complete, they trip and stumble over their webbed feet, and to watch them run and flap their tiny three inch wings is something to see over and again.

On our way to nest 5 the skies filled in with rain again and I lost all my light for shooting again. I checked my exposure before I lifted my lens to the perfect scene of a rooster ring neck pheasant with a hen both coming out off the field of dandelions that had gone to seed in the light rain. I was at 1/30th of a second at 800 ISO.

Well that would be perfect, if they were painted there and didn't move. I had no choice but to work with the light had. Just when I figured out how to balance my heavy lens pithed between my truck door and my truck window, that light rain turned into a 40 second flood. I was drenched, but laughing, when the thunder rolled out so loudly it echoed down the valley for about ten seconds and literally shook the truck.

I looked at Em who was working on her comic book in her seat and I thought she'd be scared, I mean it, that thunder would still have me running to my mom if I was a kid. My little brave-heart, looked up at me and raised her eyebrows which meant, "cool thunder, huh?"

"If you're okay with it." I replied.

The pheasants fed off the gravel on the road and the rain subsided about the time they moved into the grasses and disappeared just as my light came back. Still, I could search the world over and not have found such a lovely scene with those pheasants. I'm thankful for the image that will forever be in my head, and the few shots at 1/20th of a second with a slight blur.

Like I always say, "God owns the copyrights on all the perfect scenes, and I get to license the second bests."

At nest 5 the twins were up on the nest milling about looking for food. Up from them the family of 6 goslings I have been documenting when available. They were actually posing for me tonight.

By the time we reached nest 3 and 4 the light had dropped nothing again. It was making it difficult to see the nests at all, let alone the eaglets. Then the rains came down again and I turned my video on to the water lotus blooming in the marsh and the rain splattering off the lily pads.

I gave Em a high five, "Another day done--thanks girl."

On the way back however, I ran into that pair of pheasants again, and try as I might, I couldn't get a shot of him on the move. He'd lift his head out of the grasses and duck back down. The hen was too far into the deep grasses to see at all, I knew it was her though by the splash of tan and white I would catch as she traveled along through the grass.

The deer were just coming out of the woods as we took the last bend of the valley so we slowed for them looking for fawns, but found none. The geese of the goose marsh were all walking down the middle of the road with about 40 gosling's trailing behind. That is a scene I look forward to seeing every night I leave the valley.

I'm looking forward to day 143.


See you on the journey--

Lisa

Day 141, Wednesday, 5/28/08, Year Four Dancer & Daedee: Snow Falling on Eagles

Hello Eagle Friends,

Weather-wise we had another cool morning. However, by afternoon the sun was out
and the temperature climbed into the high 60s. At no point was there a lack of subjects.

I started the day with a field trip to Quarry Hill. The kids had a great time looking at snails, tadpoles, eggs of a toad, dragonfly larvae, turtles and gosling's. We dug for fossils and we didn't leave until every child had one to take home. Most had several of them.

I took them on a bear hunt by the close cave, and then we made up a silly song about the entire day. Every stop became a new verse and I think they did an excellent job.
In fact, a couple of the girls have a promising future in songwriting if they want to pursue those gifts.

After a wonderful day and a new collection of memories, Em and me headed down to the valley to do the eagle project. I wasn't sure if she'd be too tired, but she wanted to come with.

Nest 7 had no activity. By the time we reached nest 1 one of Em's shoes had disappeared. I couldn't find it anywhere in the truck. Luckily, I keep everything but a spare refrigerator in my trunk so I pulled out her old pair of shoes to wear.

She found a new pet slug. I finally had to ask her, "What do you like about those slugs?"
"I just think they are cute."
I guess in their own way--they are.

Daniels Charlie was sitting by Daedee when we arrived. I didn't hear anything of the robins which seemed oddly, quiet. Looking back these past days, I don't know if there has been a day where the parents haven't come over upon my arrival, with their constant watch and chirping, usually muffled, projecting through a beak full of worms. I took a short walk that I knew I was going to regret.

I have learned to hear the silence, and the answers that are found in it.

The path to their nest was now widened to three feet and all the nettles protecting the nest could not keep the babies safe, any more than their parents. As I examined the empty nest I began looking for answers in the trampled grasses, searching for even one hair of the intruder, one feather of a parent, or one baby who may have escaped.

I walked back to my eagle post sitting, straining to hear a chirp of Gloria or Donald, but, my heart was as empty as that nest when I looked over the short distance to what had been a rare glimpse into the lives of robins.

I knew from experience those little robins hardly had a chance for survival with their nest only a couple feet off the ground, but I thought the parents had done a wonderful job keeping the nest clean and the babies silenced. In their dedication, I believed they had a small chance.

I had this same experience last year with a pair of morning doves who built their nest on the low branches.

I have no idea what would make a path so wide, other than a bear. A coyote would be
my first suspect, but a coyote doesn't trample down a wide path, unless, it ate and bedded down for the night. I crossed paths with a bear out there last year. I have not seen him since the big flood.

Dancer flew in with a fish and Em has never had that honor of having an eagle fly right over your head with a fish. "Don't look up, and cover your head," was my only advise.

The screams of the hungry eaglets begging to be fed could be heard all the way into the next ravine. You'd think it was prime rib night from their anticipation of this meal. From what I have learned, fish, really aren't the preferred food.

D'ODEE Brian Michael sat up next to Daedee and I find his expressions coming out of his developing personality something I look forward to documenting every day.

We hiked out and moved on to nest 2. Dead silence there. Not even a stick getting thrown over the edge in a late afternoon cleaning.

At nest 6 I stopped and Em wanted to do some shots in the dandelions. I think the shots I took tonight go far beyond what I had hoped to accomplish when I waited as she gathered up the dandelions.

As I was shooting her pictures, Dick, the nest 6 male came flying in hauling a 4-6 pound chunk of a red horse fish for his 5 week old twins, Soar and Freedom.

I saw Don Anderson from Rochester up the road, so I pulled over to say hello.
"What are shooting today, Don?"
"Warblers again."
It's good to have photographers who you can talk with and share wildlife "hits and misses" with our lenses, photographers aren't like fisherman, we know we can't get away with fish tales--so we have to be straight-shooters for our stories.


Up the road we found a doe in the marsh with a fawn that was in the grasses, but too short to be photographed. The twins were up on nest 5 and I shot a couple pictures of them in the last light of the day.

At nest 3 I saw Victory Bell sitting out on the south side of his nest, watching the sunset just like the other night when I sat with him, sharing the same sunset.

I couldn't see nest 4, only a few inches of sticks.

As we headed back to the truck I noticed a springtail hatching on my truck. I barely had a second to focus and he slid right out of his overly tight, grey skin and without even a flip of his wings he shot into the air with so much precision that the Blue Angels would have been impressed.

Then we noticed the other 20 hatching on my truck. I have no idea how or when all these springtail's had time to crawl out of a pond, and which one I'll never know, and
crawl all over my truck to hatch.

I took Em over to see the water lotus and noticed a green inch worm, "centimetering" along. I've never seen a caterpillar move so slow.

We then packed up our stuff and called it a day. Then a day never really does end for me. I noticed two does, one with a fawn approaching each other in the tall grass, only I got the impression neither deer knew the other was ahead.

When they met head on they stood up on each other kicking their hoofs up in a sumi-wrestle stance. Then they jumped down, and quietly walked in two different directions.

The deer were out on every bend of the road as I drove through the valley. At dusk on the blind curves if I see a deer crossing the road I stop or slow down, trusting there may be two, then watch for a fawn trailing slowly behind mom.

It's that time of year where I find a dead fawn every week who couldn't follow the leader fast enough; and ran out of time leaping across an asphalt grave while staring at the white in his mother's tail.

I thank God for this wonderful day.

I'm looking forward to day 142.

See you on the journey--

Lisa

Day 140, Tuesday, 5/27/08, Year Four Dancer & Daedee: Snow Falling on Eagles

Hello Eagle Friends,

As I type, I'm considering turning the heat back on as it's already down to 45 degrees. It was only 55 degrees when I reached the valley this afternoon. The overcast skies made for shadow-free subjects.

Once again, I saw movement on nest 7. Not enough to prove any particular species, but enough to make me pay closer attention to see who is up there and what the are up to.

As I moved along I noticed a doe standing motionless on the edge of a marsh. The way she was acting certainly indicated she was being cautious not only for herself, but for a fawn who was hidden in the tall grasses.

As she turned and jumped over the grasses, tucking all four legs underneath her, I could see her fawn following behind. The first fawn of 2008 that I could document. That is a special fawn indeed. They are late this year.

I hiked out to nest 2 and sat with 51 day old Terry Gail for about an hour. The eaglet was busy picking through the nest for a tidbit to eat. Then the eaglet sat and preened and I watched the white down blowing up and off her carried on the winds.

At nest 6 I found the twins both biting each other on the beak, then they separated and I watched only one eaglet looking down on me.

The geese were all on the backside of the marsh on the smaller marsh, but on the big marsh they were all feeding on my side in the tall grasses. The gosling's still follow
close to mom and dad and I see more and more goose families coming together, probably for safety.

At nest 5 the twins were moving around but the branches on their nest tree block most
of my view. I can only see them when they move to the far north side of the nest.

When I arrived at nest 3 I could see Victory Bell picking up sticks in his nest. I
could only see sticks on nest 4. As I scanned the marshes for activity I saw the firt
water lotus bloom. When I see these, I know the hot weather is just days away.
Their yellow-white blooms add just the right amount purity to the ponds surfaces.

The only thing missing from my shot was the bullfrog I could hear, but not see.

As I headed back to go to nest 1 I saw an immature eagle flying furiously towards the other side of the spring-fed pool. Then I saw why. Dick was there and the immature eagle raced up beside him and challenged him to what seemed to be a race across the marsh and back to the wood.

Dick took the challenge and they both flew side by side, and then Dick sprinted ahead and the immature eagle picked up speed and they both turned and raced back. One over the other, then both disappeared into the shadows of twilight in the woods.

At nest 1 I found Daniels Charlie sitting up on the nest peering down. Gloria and Donald, the robin documentary pair both were guarding their nest. Gloria has tamed down to where she flies just a few feet away from me and looks me up and down. If I make chirping sounds she checks me out again making sure I don't have any of her little ones.

The babies have pin feathers and will be fully feathered by this weekend. It's amazing to sit and watch a nest of robins grow so fast while watching the eaglets take months
longer to make that same journey to the sky.

I brought out a snack for Gloria and Donald, but when I looked down there were slugs all over it. Of course, what robin wouldn't enjoy a cookie with slugs?

I hiked to the north side of the nest and found D'ODEE Brian Michael moving all the sticks around on the nest. His comical expressions just steal my heart.

Dancer came in to check on the twins about 7 PM. I decided to head out and on my way I found some tent caterpillars. I didn't figure the valley would miss three blue and cream caterpillars, so I brought them home for Emme.

I tried to set free the female swallowtail again tonight after her 1/2 feeding of nectar, but this butterfly just won't fly. She flaps her wings, waves her feet at me, and now after a few days of feeding her she unrolls her tongue when she sees me too.

All I could tell her was, "I failed miserably trying to fly as a child, so if you're looking for flight lessons you'll have to go to the eagles."

She tilted her tiny head and put down her antennae as if she understood. Maybe she did.

I'm looking forward to day 141.

See you on the journey--

Lisa

Day 139, Monday, 5/26/08, Year Four Dancer & Daedee: Snow Falling on Eagles

Hello Eagle Friends,

Today was a peaceful Memorial Day. I say that because it has taken eight years, eight spring seasons for me to heal from my father's death. I thank God for sending me the eagles for my healing came only with their help.

I opted for a later starting time today. I have enjoyed shooting the late afternoons and the twilight. I have fallen in love with the valleys' nocturnal mysteries. Stories, yet to be recorded and probably will take my lifetime to understand.

Meanwhile, there was some activity on nest 7. Can you believe that after all these months, some large black bird, the size of an eagle, or vulture, actually lifted off the nest just as I had my video camera focused on it.

My guess is it was just a bird checking it out. Still, maybe it was an eagle, and maybe that eagle will use it next year?

Nest 8 is officially hidden now, at least until fall. I know I have written before that I could not find nest 8, and then the next day, the leaves on the trees part like the red sea and I find it and get a shot. Well, that hasn't been the case these past few days so I officially ended my watch on that nest.

As I type I have Dale, my 100 lb. male German shepherd snoring on my right, and my female 85 lb German shepherd hugging my ankle in her dreams. My 15 year old husky looks in from her comfy spot on her lounge chair, but has no desire to plop down with the big dogs.

It took me three years to make good on my promise to them, but loyal as they are, they believed in me and now we can all hang out together all night. No doubt they are in doggy heaven right now getting the extra attention they well deserve.

That Dale though, I gave his a basted bone, and then he figured he could just go help himself to the bag. So I had to move the bag after he took four extras. Dani watched him, but never took any more than I offered her.

I'm getting carried away here, you probably don't want to hear the ramblings of my night life which literally, has gone to the dogs.

Back to my eagle project. . .

As I began my hike out to nest 1 the sun was low in the sky and the goldfinch were down sipping from a muddy puddle of water which also served as a bathing hole. As I brought my camera down to my side, an indigo bunting flew in and lit right by me.

I hiked out and sat by Daedee who was on The Look Out Tree perch. Having spent so much time with the other pairs of eagles I have come to learn that Daedee and Dancer allowing me to observe them is a gift not shared by the other eagles. I guess that is how I know that this is the nest God intended for me to study and focus on. Only he could whisper to the eagles to be at peace with me.

Gloria and Donald, the documentary robins both had beaks dripping with purple and deep magenta night crawlers. I checked on the babies who are about 6 days old. Every one of them had their eyes open, for a second. Well-fed robins are sleepy little creatures and I left them to nap.

I could see the twins moving about but not very well from my main post. So I moved to the north side of the nest area, to my second favorite post. Daniels Charlie at 6 1/2 weeks was stretching, preening and then tasting the sticks in the nest. He would call out to Daedee every so often hoping she'd come back into the nest and feed him.

Dancer came zooming through the nest. He swooped so quickly above the nest that the speed of light couldn't have caught up with him. He was in pursuit of an immature eagle near the nest. He caught up with it in the south about a minute later.

I left and hiked out. On my way back I almost ran into a spider web that had a pencil dot sized spider in the center. The sun light was being bent by the tiny glistening strands of silk web and I thought it was neat how a spider, the master of "dream catching" had captured not only tiny insects, but rainbows in its web.

I found no activity on nest 2. The geese were moving their gosling's from the cornfields to the marsh for the night as I pulled over to document nest 6. I could see the twins up on the nest. They are almost 5 weeks old now.

I moved on to nest 5 and saw the twins there flapping and they had a quick spat, but resolved it by each moving to a different side of the nest.

At nest 3 I couldn't see Victory Bell up on the nest, and nest 4 is barely in sight anymore.

As I drove back a young cottontail came out and began sniffing the ground, then licking the gravel road. I see the squirrels lick the rocks, and I see the woodchucks lick the rocks, and I see the bird pick the rocks and take dust baths in them.

When I got back to Rochester I went to the cemetery to visit my dad's grave. I didn't have flowers, I didn't have a card, all I had was me and my love. I saw all the flags waving as I pulled in. Then I looked at the Jesus statue to the south of his grave and I wondered if that statue had been watching me all these years when visiting my dad.

If ever there was a time I wished I could have my dad back even for the night, it was now. If I could, I would take him right away without wasting a second to see the eagles of the valley. I would once again get to see that sparkle in his blue eyes like I did at the Falconry & Raptor show at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival that last year he was alive.

Dad was so impressed with the show and how the trainer said, "If you want to fly, put your thoughts on his back--and you'll fly," that he sought him out to make a donation.

Every time, since, when I need to, I whisper my thoughts and prayers to the eagles and I watch them fly on their backs. Every so often I think I can see my dad flying in their thoughts as they come back to me.


When I got home Em asked why I was so late. I told her I went to the cemetery. "Weren't you scared there at night?"
"No. Jesus was in the garden standing holding up a lamb by dad's grave."

Then Em told me a story how while moving some boxes in our office her and Dave found a box she had made a few years ago. "Mom, remember my box we made, the treasure box, that said, 'Treasure' on it?"
"Yes, I remember it, why?"
"Well, guess what was on it? Guess!"
"I don't know, a bug?"
"Close."
"A spider?"
"That's really getting close."
"Hmm. A centipede?"
"No, you were closer with spider. Okay, it's something the spider makes that is round."
"An egg sac?"
"YES! Two of them. Can you believe that a spider would put their egg sacs on my treasure box?"
"Well Em, you know spiders have many eyes, and you know they can read--didn't you see Charlotte's Web? If I was a spider I'd lay my eggs on a box that said treasure too. That was one smart spider don't you think?"

I had her going with that one. I could just see the wheels turning in her head. Well, how would you have explained that one?

I'm looking forward to day 140.

See you on the journey--

Lisa

Day 138, Sunday, 5/25/08 Year Four Dancer & Daedee: Snow Falling on Eagles

Hello Eagle Friends,

Today was humid and the temperature was mid-seventies. We had a tornado watch until 9 PM, but that seemed to pass without trouble too.

Em accompanied me today and we had a great time making up our silly songs, and her making play meals from the field. I had a burrito made of grasses, leaves, and a half dozen flowers which was supposed to taste like a chicken burrito with cheese, rice and tomato.

As we watched the eaglets moving around I noticed Daedee's neck feathers were stained with blood. I wondered what bloodied animal she carried in to make such a mess on her
white feathers.

Daniels Charlie was up and moving around most of the time we were there. He would stretch his wings out and then scratch his head with his cumbersome-looking yellow
feet.

D'ODEE Brian Michael was sitting in the middle of the nest. His mohawk grew up another inch since yesterday. Daniels Charlie has a little rising of feathers on the top of his crown but nothing like D'ODEE's.

We checked on our documentary robins, well, I should write they checked on us. Suddenly dad was there, ten feet away peering through the brush, then as he hopped into a clear spot I shot him picture. His beak is full of worms, but then to my right mom appeared at the same time, and she had twice as many worms dangling from her beak.

That was just enough for one feeding. Two parents trying to keep their 5 day old or so, robins fed. Then I watched as the dad flew off with a white sac in his mouth. "Em, look at the dad. Look what he is doing."
"What?"
"He is flying the babies poop sac away from the nest so other animals don't find their nest."
Then he dropped the sac off into the three foot grasses. Pretty smart robin, huh?

We moved on and met Dick and Linda from St. Charles up on the road. "Em, tell them what you named the eagles twins."

"Soar and Freedom."
Dick and Linda thought that was wonderful. "Like mother like daughter. Em, do you know they call your mom, 'The lady of Whitewater?'

Em smiled back, she was trying to save ants that were swimming in a puddle of water.
Then we moved on to nest 2 where we found 7 week old Terry Gail picking through some
food on top of the nest.

At nest 6 we found Linda fishing over by the river and the twins up on the nest under dad.

No gosling's were running about today, none were swimming in puddles in the cornfield, and none were peeking through the grasses back at me. A day without gosling's is like a day without the sun peaking through clouds.

At nest 5 the twins were up on the nest. They should be starting to practice their jump flights today. Then we found a tiny locust walking the edge of a dandelion that was ready to start spreading its seeds.

Nest 4 is covered with foliage and all I could see was an adult eagle flying off the nest and into the west where dreams and visions are supposedly found.

On nest 3, the eaglet Victory Bell was sitting up on the nest, and my view, although much further away than last night was still just as lovely.

I'm looking forward to day 139.

See you on the journey--

Lisa