Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I am so excited.
Not only do I have a new dream job here at KXMX, with great
folks, I also discovered my little place in the woods has a resident bald
eagle.
Spotted him/her this morning. Gorgeous! Gonna call her a her
for the time being. It makes writing about her easier.
I heard her first. Being an admirer of all things wild, I
heard her call when I walked out my front door on the way to new dream job.
Love watching the critters who may decide that I’m a safe place to be. I
already have what I call my Crow Crew, who just love the past-edible leftovers
I throw out just for them.
And I heard them on this lovely morning too. Afterwards I
realized they may have been sounding an alarm call. Then I heard the eagle’s
call. I even stopped and looked around. Didn’t know what that noise was, didn’t
recognize the voice. I just knew I’d not heard that before.
Didn’t see anything to get excited about at that point, so I
climbed into my nearly-ready-for-medicare pickup and proceeded out of the
driveway. And that’s when I saw that white-headed black shape in the tree.
Of course, I slammed on the brakes, right in the middle of
my country road.
OMG! There she sat. Right in the top of a tree. She seemed
to be surveying her kingdom, as she sat proudly tall and unafraid.
I was afraid. But I looked back only once to make sure no
other vehicle was speeding down my road, with the potential of hitting me head
on or butt on.
And I just sat and stared. What would she do? What was she
doing? The lake isn’t too far away. Maybe she’d been out fishing and was taking
a break. Maybe she was seeking a mate. That eagle cry had been loud and very
clear. What did it mean? I have no idea.
But it finally dawned on me that a photo might be nice. In
past years we’ve tried sneaking up on eagles along the Kerr-McClelland water
way. Learned very quickly that you can’t sneak up on a bald eagle. They can see you coming a mile away, and usually
take wing. I have taken photos of bald eagles but they were always in the recuperating
care of Dr. Gary Cox, Sequoyah County’ own wildlife rehabilitator.
So where was that dang camera? I began tossing stuff around
my truck like I was evacuating for a fire. I couldn’t find the camera! See,
that’s what happens when you clean. Prompted by friends and family that I
should clean out my truck cab, I’d wadded most of my stuff up and tossed it in
the garbage can. When you sort of do business out of your vehicle, things get a
little untidy. So I tidied, and now I couldn’t find what I needed most, right
this minute – that dang camera!
So I just sat and watched our beautiful national symbol, and
now my very own, bald eagle.
And my bald eagle seemed to say, ‘Well, if you are not going
to take a photo, I’m outta here.’
She spread her wings and lifted gently into the breeze. I
watched as she flew past me. I was totally in awe.
She didn’t go far. She flew to another tree.
‘Oh joy,’ I thought. ‘She’s going to live with me.’
I promise, I am going to find that camera. If my beautiful
bald eagle decides to live with me in my woods, I will find that camera and get
a photo.
In the meantime, how do you feel about crows?
I took my eagle siting as a good omen. I and my new employer
are going to fly like eagles.
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