Over the years we have made several treks out to our local lake, Lake Arcadia, to look for bald eagles that migrate here in the winter. We have seldom, if ever actually, been successful – until today! We hit the jackpot.
The sun is finally out, not a cloud in the sky. After a solid week of ice and snow and dark cloudy depressing days, it was just too nice to stay indoors. Even though we still needed heavy coats, gloves and hats, it was a beautiful day to be out. So we decided to go for a drive and pick which direction to head once we were in the car. My husband, just on a whim, took along his binoculars.
We decided to head east out of town toward a favorite eatery and made a detour to the lake. We don’t go much since his mom sold her house out there. The sun was shimmering off the water and we headed to the lookout point next to the dam. There was a family with a terrestrial telescope and they told us they had spotted a bald eagle on the other side of the lake. Sure enough, there was Mr. Majestic sitting in a tree with the lowering sun reflecting off his white topknot. We could get a dim view of him through our own binoculars, but the telescope gave us a great view. There was also a juvenile eagle – not old enough for the white head yet – soaring on the air currents, dipping down to the water and scattering the smaller fowl on the surface. Looked like he was having a blast.
We decided to drive around to the other side to see if we could get closer. We were using a large white house (i.e. mansion with two-story pillars) as our reference point. At some point, driving around all the twisting little roads at the camping and picnic grounds we lost the view of the house. We pulled over and got out to see what we could see. Scanning the opposite shore with his binoculars, my husband said, “Hey come look at this and tell me what you think it is.” He had located a pair of eagles perched in a tree on the other side of the lake! It was hard to tell at first because they were turned sideways, but soon they changed position just enough for us to be able to distinguish their white heads and tail feathers. What a site to behold! We just stood there and stared at them, taking turns blocking the sun for the person with the binoculars. It is something so rarely seen we were awestruck.
So, now we’re back at the house. The hot chocolate toddy is warming me down to my cold toes and I just had to share. I’m so hoping they are still around by the time we make it back next weekend. We got another bonus, too. While we were driving around trying to spot the giant white house, we came across parking access to the lake’s equestrian trails. A new spot for star gazing away from city lights! Couldn’t ask for more. What a great day…….thanks, Lord.
Simple Stewardship 