Screech!

After a very pleasant hour of beach walking and photography at Headlands Beach Nature Preserve, Bob and I headed down the road to meet our daughter, son-in-law, and Michael and Emmy for dinner at a fish house on the shore of Lake Erie. Bob was driving as I tabbed through the pictures on my LCD screen, examining the images on my memory card, hoping that one would jump out and say, "I'm your blip!"

Suddenly Bob exclaimed, "Wait a minute!" Braking the car to a screeching stop, he began backing up until I could see what he had spotted: a mature bald eagle, perched on top of a pile of shale near one of the docks where shale is loaded on large ships and transported out of the Great Lakes. I can't believe he spotted that bird while driving down a narrow road, but I'm very thankful he did because it's the first time I have seen an eagle close enough to blip it.

Not many years ago, eagles were an extremely rare sight in this area, but thanks to the improving ecology of our Great Lake, they are becoming more common. However, they aren't so common that I wasn't very excited to get this blip. It's not a great picture. He wasn't close enough for the sharpness I desired and cropping was necessary, but I am happy to have the opportunity to see this majestic bird and share him with you.