Hello Eagle Friends,
Today was another rainy day, with some light snow, but nothing like yesterdays weather. It was 36 degrees when I reached the
valley this morning. I geared up for the rain expecting more than what we got.
I walked the river first and found it had rose several feet both in height and width since I left yesterday. I was just thinking about how those trout fisherman that will be lining the rivers tomorrow morning will find it difficult, if not impossible to catch a trout in the furiously, fast running river which looks like the chocolate river from a Willy Wonka movie.
As I watched the water there was a squeal, a growl, and three full grown otters jumped out of the waves of the river and onto the sandbar. Two of them were chasing the third otter who had a trout in his mouth and was chewing it like someone shoving a handful of popcorn into their mouth. Bits and pieces of fish scattering everywhere as he tried to eat this fish quickly before the others grabbed it.
Then as quickly as they appeared they dove back into the chocolate sauce river. I hiked upstream trying to locate them again, but I never saw them again. From my new spot I could see Daedee up on the nest and she had been watching the otters too.
The rain began to fall heavily so I walked back to my gear.
I sat in the rain for about an hour and was just thinking of leaving when I had that twinge to hang out a little longer. I'm glad I did, too. Dancer flew in with a fish, maybe the remains of those otters? He was soaked and he dropped it by Daedee. This was it--that moment I've waited 94 days to see.
I focused in and photographed every move both eagles made. Daedee stood up and Dancer immediately looked down beneath her. He didn't fly off so I thought he was going to take the nest, but Daedee took a bite of the fish. I wondered if she had even left this nest since yesterday? She was so wet I don't how she could have been warm, but you could see she was hungry.
She took another bite and then she dipped her beak down in the nest. Was there an eaglet? Then she moved to the center of the nest and laid down and Dancer flew off.
Bringing food to the nest confirms they hear their eaglets in their shells. We will have an eaglet this weekend. Maybe we already do. We also have rain and snow predicted all weekend, so I won't see much of anything until next week. Then again, I've waited all these days, and so have you my faithful readers so what's a few more days?
I moved on to nest 2 and found Judy, a soaked to the skin new mother eagle trying her best to keep her five day old eaglet dry.
Nest 6 was on her nest. The geese were on their mounds and nest boxes, and several ducks paddled around near me. A pair of hooded mergansers both swam up to a log floating on the marsh, both turned their heads towards me for a second, and any other day in any other lighting with no rain I would have had a shot that would make a nice wetland magazine cover. However, that shot will have to wait for another day.
Nest 5 eagle was brooding her 6 day old eaglet. Nest 3 and nest four eagles were on their nests but the rising mist and fog made shooting almost impossible. I found a sandhill crane stalking aquatic life on the edge of another marsh and photographed him.
Then I saw the rain drenched red-tailed hawk sitting low on a perch and my heart just went out to him. As I photographed him he turned his big eyes towards me and I captured a new favorite image of the hawk I see in that area almost daily.
I spent some time shooting all my favorite bluffs with the rising fog. I want to put those all together as a collection shot in every season over a period of years. It's interesting how the landscape changes every year. New trees grow up, old one blow down, and floods cut new paths through the land making it all new like an outdoor canvas where the artist used watercolors
to create an everlasting memory of an ever-changing scene.
I'm looking forward to day 95.
See you on the journey--
Lisa
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