A Happy First

I did something today for the first time in my thirty-some-odd years. It's something I won't soon forget, even if I don't remember the exact date. (Three cheers for weblogs and timestamps.)

Dad wanted to spend some time at a nearby wildlife refuge. Usually, Mom goes with him, but she didn't feel up to it today, so I went along instead. After doing a lot of catch-up housecleaning this morning, I knew it would feel good to get away and rest for a while.

This refuge is in the middle of nowhere, in northern Ohio. The area is very provincial, being mostly farmland and woods. The roads through the refuge are little more than dirt paths between ditches. It has dozens of ponds and a reservoir, to strengthen the variety of wildlife.

As we drove along, we saw several smaller birds, including geese, swans, and sparrows, as well as a kestrel and several hawks. While I was still soaking in the incredible riches of the refuge, Dad told me to look towards the woods to see what we had hoped to see. Sure enough, there it was: a bald eagle. And then another one, probably the other half of the same nest.

I tried to take some photos of the eagles in flight, but all I managed to get were a few shots of a large black spot being chased away by some smaller black spots.

When I was in elementary school, we heard over and over that the bald eagle was in danger of extinction, because of hunting, DDT, pollution, and deforestation, and that it might become extinct in my lifetime. After seeing three nests today, including one that was about 150 yards away from a house, I don't think the eagle population is in danger any longer.

Posted on Feb 26, 2006 at 10:07:00 PM EST.