It’s 7 a.m. on Saturday. The sky is dappled with bits of blue and yellow. Prospects for a good day look promising despite the inclement weather forecast.
My ride arrives. Birding buddy Sharon and I are off to the Eagle Festival at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge.
Traffic is light the entire way down, which in and of itself is a miracle. We make excellent time until just a few miles from the site. A big blinking sign tells us to turn left for the festival. Sharon goes straight.
When we get to the visitor center, we find out we can’t park there. Shuttle buses are taking people back and forth to an offsite parking area (yes, the same one where we were supposed to turn left).
We backtrack to the satellite parking lot not realizing that in those few minutes we probably missed our opportunity to sign up for the free eagle prowl, a guided bus tour through the park to view eagle nesting areas.
Instead we sign up for the guided wildlife tour, hoping that we will still see some eagles, too. In the meantime, we now have over an hour before departure to check out exhibits and demonstrations.
People are everywhere, especially families with children. We wander over to one of several big white tents. It’s a raptor demonstration that’s just about ready to start.
Small portable kennel cages line the stage. One by one speaker Liz Smith brings out her menagerie — a Swainson’s hawk, screech owls, kestrels, and a burrowing owl are among her special guests.
Out come the cameras (ours included) and phones as people snap away. It’s not often that we can see these birds up this close and personal.
Liz, a professional wildlife rehabilitator, talks about why the birds are here. Most have injuries that prevent their return to the wild or humans otherwise interfered with their wild upbringing.
As she talks about each bird, she mentions how much they weigh. The smaller birds like the kestrels and owls weigh less than six ounces (think a can of tuna)!
She also talks about talons. In one past incident, it took her 30 minutes to extricate her hand from a screech owl’s talon. Lesson for the day: don’t let cute, fluffy looks fool you.
These birds are master predators with all the adaptations, super sharp talons included, to survive and thrive in the wild.
Soon we pile on to the bus for our wildlife tour. The weather decides to change its mind as the clouds gather and the wind picks up speed. I keep my expectations low for any extraordinary sightings.
We see a nice variety of ducks along with snow geese and tundra swans. I am pleasantly surprised to see quite a few great blue herons, too. They are the first ones I’ve seen this year. Surely their arrival is a sign that spring is on its way!
But wait a minute, isn’t this an eagle festival?
Indeed it is, and we spot a few nests and individuals as we drive around the park. All are so far away, though, that good photo opportunities are impossible.
Worse yet, by the time we leave, sleet develops. Time to go home!
Speaking of home, our ride back was a bit more eventful than we planned. We added an extra hour to the trip when Sharon missed the exit for Baltimore and we ended up heading for Washington, DC. Once we finally got home, I realized that I lost my house keys and she lost her reading glasses.
Where were those eagle eyes when we needed them?
It doesn’t bother me that we didn’t see many eagles that day because I see them more and more right here in Carroll County. They fly over the house and hang out on local cell phone towers. Occasionally I spot one at a pond.
My best sighting though happened in November 2016. That day, Sharon called me to meet her a few miles down the road from the house. When I got there, numerous mature and juvenile eagles were scavenging a deceased deer in the middle of a field.
What a surprise and shock to see the eagles vying for the deer. I know their favorite food is fish, having seen them years ago snatching wild salmon out of a river in Alaska.
At one point earlier that day, Sharon saw as many as nine eagles at the site. We even watched one hop down to a nearby pond for a drink. Within two days the deer carcass was pretty much gone.
Until that day, I didn’t realize just how opportunistic they were. I’ve seen them steal fish from each other and other birds, but this was only the second time I saw them scavenge for food.
These incredibly regal birds are survivors. Once on the endangered species list, they are now thriving. It’s always a thrill to see one soaring in the sky, especially in our own back yards.
While you’re at it, help plant a tree, too, on National Arbor Day April 27.
Happy Earth Day and Arbor Day everyone!