Same Place, Same Time

It was calm on the river last night. Since our multi-eagle sightings a few weeks back, I have made a point to bring along my "good camera" while kayaking in "smooth" waters. The result? Empty nests. Empty branches. Empty memory card.

All that finally changed last evening when the good camera and the eagles were finally in the same place at the same time.

The guys first spotted a nest and thought they saw a young eagle in it or by it or both. Turns out it was both. One in and one out, but neither were the mature bald eagle I was hoping for. Then one of the kids flew the coop, as they are known to do, and landed on a branch across the river.

Right next to a bald eagle! Hello, Daddy!

You should have seen me paddle my tail off to get within zooming distance of the father-son pair before they took off. I was almost trapped in a field of lily pads that were trying to strangle my paddle. At that point, I didn't care if I got stuck there – as long as I could get a picture.

Well I got the picture AND didn't get stuck.

It was cool to be right between the guys on the branch and the eagle that stayed by the nest, because there was constant calling back and forth between them.

I don't know if the one who stayed nest side was a sister or brother but it was not happy to be left home alone. Either that or they were chatting back and forth about the weird chick in the bright green kayak battling the lily pads.

One never knows.

Either way, I left them to their privacy and we moved on. Didn't see any more eagles for the night, but did see a deer on an island and some damsels doing the nasty on my kayak.

Oh, that is damsel flies, which are not to be confused with dragonflies. I learned something new. Damsel flies keep their wings resting pretty much parallel to their slim bodies while dragonflies spread their wings.

So the damsels stopped by for a visit. I do not know what they were doing exactly, but let's just go with "they stopped by to say hi." Either way, I left them to their privacy, too, and moved on.

Looking forward to seeing what wildlife presents itself on our next water adventure. If we have to worry about privacy and being in the wrong place at the wrong time, I hope we're still talking about animals and not humans!

I'll still bring my "good camera."