Eagle Scout and Some Early Daffodils

Most Californians never get to see a bald eagle up close, mostly because they live in the northern parts of the country and partly because they have been on the verge of extinction. That last part became hard for me to believe when we moved to Washington. They're everywhere! Jolyn pointed out the very large eagle nest perched in a tree right as you enter Anacortes.... It's huge. On average, they measure 13 feet deep, 8 feet wide and weigh 2000 POUNDS! Isn't that incredible?! It's no wonder I can spot a nest 2 miles away while driving down the freeway at 65 mph. I saw them everywhere. Even though the eagle migrate north in the early spring, they come back to the same nest every winter. For obvious reasons. It takes 1 - 3 months to build it. Yikes!

Apparently, they arrive in northern Washington early December when the salmon arrive. The Skagit River is the largest river system in Washington and hosts 5 healthy populations of salmon... since eagles mainly prey on fish and salmon is the most abundant and since salmon are migratory... the eagle follow them.

River

They were supposed to leave Skagiket County on February 15th but we heard rumors of the birds hanging out on the reservation over by the airport. SO... we tracked them.

Wow, guys. Wow. We drove for about an hour around the indian reservation, and since Will, Jolyn and I are all novice bird watchers, we sent ourselves on a few "wild goose chases". Sometimes it's hard to tell how far away the birds are... therefore it's hard to perceive their size.

Will "look! I see one flying over the field over there!"

Jolyn "Ok! I'll turn in here..."

Me "Wow... it's realy big..."

Will "... it's a crow."

After mistaking several seagulls, crows and pidgins for the incredible bald eagles, we discovered the key distinction between eagles and everything else:

Wing Span.... Everyone knows they have these giant wings, right? So when the birds are in flight.... they don't flap them that often. Just one swoop of their powerful wings and they shoot upwards about 20 feet, so they mostly glide. Unlike gulls and crows, you don't see a whole lot of flapping out there. Once we figured that out, we found them much more easily.

Since this is an El Nino winter... everything is a little off... the eagles are lingering a little longer than normal, the weather is uncharacteristically warm and the daffodils are blooming a whole 3 weeks early. Crazy! That means...

THE TULIPS ARE COMING!!!!

but for now... here is a sneak preview: