Life-changing event: Bald Eagle Courtship

I wanted to post this immediately after it happened, but I simply ran out of time. Fortunately I told the story to a dozen good friends who listened intently. After repeating it, I know the story perfectly and have no problem typing it all out here... please excuse me for not sharing this sooner!

I drove to Camano Island, about an hour south of Bellingham, to a nature preserve called English Boom. En route, a Red-tailed Hawk flew 20 feet over my car as I drove down the I-5 corridor, just south of Bellingham, right after I got on the freeway. I thought that was going to be the highlight of my day. Boy was I mistaken.

This was the second outing planned for a group of kindergartners at Summit Academy to teach and learn about Great Blue Herons and Bald Eagles. Two weeks prior, we had talked about habitat and requirements for animals to live and thrive in a place. This second day was to focus on the two birds and to see how they might interact with each other or not.

I was toying in the trunk of my car pondering what on earth I was going to facilitate for these young children. I heard some Bald Eagles calling and they flew towards the water; I didn't think much of it. About a minute later, while I was still organizing my car, I heard the Bald Eagles call again, chirping and flying close, and I turned and looked.

The two adults (both with white heads) were flying no higher than 50 feet above the ground and they got within about 25 feet of my car and where I was standing. Suddenly, the bottom eagle flipped upside down and the top eagle grasped talons with the bottom one...

And this is what it looked like:

credit: http://wildmintproductions.com/2012/05/the-dalliance-of-the-eagles/

The eagles spiraled down for about four seconds... it was a majestic dance, they courted in a perfect spiral as they fell to 40, 30, 20 feet above the ground. With enough time before hitting the field, they released and caught air to double back around for another pass over.

The top eagle this time, obviously the male (because of the following behavior) had been carrying a fish in its other talon! I discovered this because it dropped the fish mid air. The female, who was flying underneath, gathered momentum in a brief second and swooped under the male to catch the fish mid air!

This is called a "prey transfer" and I knew it was a common courting behavior between Peregrine Falcons, as Bud Anderson (Falcon Research Group) once taught me. But I saw it for myself... in Bald Eagle courtship!

The birds flew north together, following the road and banked around a stand of tall Douglas Fir trees. As they rounded the grove and out of sight, the first carload of small people approached and our two-hour field excursion was about to begin. Not knowing how to respond, I simply dropped to a knee and thanked the earth for providing me with such an opportunity.

I now share this story with whoever reads it. The natural world is full of incredible events and miracles but these are also ordinary events in the lives of the creatures that demonstrate these behaviors. What makes them astounding is our ability to slow down and make the time for observation.

The prey transfer is a final step in solidifying the relationship for the breeding pair and I suppose the next step for these two birds is to start a nest. It is that time of year, after all! And during the rest of our time at English Boom, we heard those raptor chirping and carrying on, in their "new-love" kind of way that we humans know all so well.

To date, this is one of the single most incredible events I have witnessed. I am so thankful for those two Bald Eagles and for all Bald Eagles... they led me to the Pacific Northwest and still guide my life. When I am lost or confused, these raptors remind me of my place (on the ground) on this earth.

Wow- long post (from yesterday)

Yesterday was incredible. Just an amazing experience in the natural world. After an morning inside on a gorgeous sunny day, I decided to go outside. Lo and behold, Nick and Kate arrived at that very minute. So we took to the woods and I showed them my sit spot!

A note about the sit spot... it should be a secret :) I should not have shown them where it was, but I will soon be moving away from this spot. Thus, I felt like it was a nice opportunity for me to show them the sit spot which has sustained me for the past couple months. So we explored my sit spot and it took them no time at all to wander around the area examining all sorts of things.

I am not sure what they got into, but I re-explored a hollowed out snag with super fine wood shavings inside. I was curious if the material was dry or wet and if it had changed much. It felt like soft powder sand as I rubbed it between my forefinger and thumb. Then I sat down to listen to the birds.

Suddenly I found a millipede crawling on my thigh. It was really cool but I couldn't lean down to analyze my thigh with my hand-lens... I'm not that flexible! Carefully I shifted the 29-legged critter (per side) to a leaf and then held it up so I could count all of those legs! Then it wriggled back under some foliage and I went exploring trees and mosses.

That adventure continued on for another hour. I have great friends and we really seized the day.

Nick joined me for adventure number two. It was in search for a pair of sunglasses that I lost on November 10th as some kids were chasing me into the forest at Arroyo Park. It was mission impossible. I had the feeling that the search would give me a peace of mind though I also embraced that the sunglasses were probably lost forever. Nick led the charge up a steep muddy, boggy thicket of thorny shrubs and downed limbs of Bigleaf Maple. Not the easiest approach. I told him I would go around the other way and found it be less muddy... sorry Nick!

Eventually we made it to the spot where I hid from the boys... we then worked back toward the trail from my approach. We had been searching for 10 minutes, making our way slowly downhill. We lifted leaf matter, decomposing forest elements, and moved things around to get a better look. I got down to scout underneath a log and Nick asked me if I had found anything yet. I looked up and saw my sunglasses on his head! Over three months later and they had been found!!

The rubber arm-ends and bits of the nose piece had been chewed by a small rodent. The lenses are probably done for. But the treasure was found! Nick found black sunglasses by noticing small bits of the frame undersides and the arms. It was actually covered by leaves! Nick's powers of observation are incredible. It became mission possible!

Adventure number three began on our walk back to the car when Nick mentioned Post Point. It is a small spit of land south of Fairhaven on Bellingham Bay. After enjoying four hours outside on arguably the prettiest day of the year so far, we reveled in two more during our walk along the coast. Highlights include sticking my head into a sandstone hole and talking... it was like being in my own world. The sounds amplified all around in the near-perfect half-spherical hole. And when Nick did it, I only heard the muffled murmurs of his voice. That was cool.

Then we got into the tide pools. Good tidepooling is never boring. While unfortunately crushing countless barnacles and other shelled creatures, and probably popping some anemones, we saw so much life. Barnacles, limpets, clams, mussels, sea anemones, and HUGE PURPLE SEA STARS! They were suctioned into the cracks of rock close to the shoreline. The water lapped against rocks and sprayed salty mist into those fissures but the sea stars remained still. They remained royal purple with white speckles and lines that made the legs really stand out. We counted over 15 in one small crevice and well over 35 in total. I hadn't seen those in years but they really put a smile on my face.

We picked up trash nearly all day and cleaned up this small bit of coastline too. I laughed at the coincidence when thinking about the story of the man who threw washed-up sea stars back into the ocean to save their lives. When told he couldn't make a difference, the man threw one into the ocean, looked at the naysayer and said, "Made a difference to that one." I picked up another empty beer can and congratulated myself for making a difference. We can all make a difference every single day!

The day ended with sunset, walking in and around a rock labyrinth next to the railroad tracks. The temperature dropped and my hands were numb as we headed back to the car. Six hours outside. Making a difference in the world. Aware and alive to embrace and appreciate nature. We all have this opportunity to some extent in our lives to do this. Thank you, Nick, for your influence on this day. You made a difference in my world.