Eye On The Eagle

Well, today was just the best kind of day ever. My friend Mary Jo and I spent almost the entire day, cameras at the ready, chasing eagles, swans and geese all over the county. The weather was gorgeous -- clear, crisp, and quite cold.

We started on the Nooksack River where just yesterday a rare bald eagle with white spots was photographed among a large group of the birds feeding along the river. The photo made it to National Geographic (check the NGS website). The bird apparently has a condition called leucism which is a pigment deficiency preventing color in some of the feathers. According to the article in our local paper the photographer was a longtime wildlife lover and knew what she had in the viewfinder. It must have been so exciting.

Every year around this time the eagles come to this spot for several weeks and it's a photographer's dream. The faithful eagle lovers stake out spots along the river with their cameras and come away with some amazing shots. We're also stalking swans that land in the bare tulip fields just south of us, apparently as many as 350,000 at one time. Not sure when that happens but you can bet we're going to find out.

We didn't see too many eagles today and the ones we did see were just a little too far away. Mary Jo even brought a bucket of fish heads to throw out for them, but they didn't seem to notice. My blip is of an immature eagle without the white head and yellow beak of an adult. It's a disappointing picture and of course has made me all the more anxious to get a longer lens. So, I'm off to check the piggy bank because I think Mary Jo and I are onto something here.