I’ve been fortunate enough to have seen Bald Eagles in the wild on numerous occasions, but it never ceases to thrill me to see them soaring overhead. I was driving to the park for a hike with Dakota when I noticed one heading over the park off Rt. 91. Most of my spotting of eagles in the park has been at the marsh along Chagrin River Road just south of Wilson Mills…so that’s where I headed.
Dakota hiked in a little ahead of me and when we got to the marsh, I began searching the skies…but to no avail. Still…it was beautiful there. The marsh had frozen over, though hardly strong enough to support my weight and so I simply sat and observed the snow blowing across the ice. A few minutes passed when my ‘your being watched’ sensor started tingling. I looked across the ice at the many dead trees still standing in the marsh…and then I saw them. A large female (they’re bigger than the males running about 36 inches tall and with wing spans of 7 feet) was sitting on a limb with a smaller male at her side. I’ve never seen a couple before…and I gaped. They could probably see me looking stupid from their perch about a hundred yards away…they have ‘eagle eyes’ after all…but I bored them – or more likely…concerned them…so they flew to the far end of the marsh and again found a perch. And there I sat…cursing myself for not having my camera…but thrilled to have seen a pair. I texted four or five people who would appreciate the news and called Holly…who wouldn’t. Her famous line was repeated, “they’re just birds, John.”
But they are so much more...and she really knows it. After doing a little research when I returned home, I discovered there is a nesting pair on the Chagrin River...somewhere around the point where Chardon Road crosses the river in Willoughby Hills. This may have been the pair I spotted...and it may have been a new one with a nest as yet undiscovered. Their nests, to which they return year after year, can grow in size as they add to it over the years (they mate for life...like 50% of Americans) and get as heavy as 2,000 pounds. The pesticide DDT, used to fight insects invading crops, had almost been their demise. The chemical would find it's way into the streams and the fish upon which the eagle fed and caused their egg shells to become so brittle as to keep the chicks from hatching. There was only 500 pairs left in the lower 48 states in 1972 when the chemical was banned. Today, it is estimated there are over 5,000 pairs...200 in Ohio...and so our chances of seeing this most magnificent creature soaring the skies of Northeast Ohio are quite good...if you know where to look.
I went home to put in some time on the trainer and managed another 75 minutes while watching another episode of ‘Everest.’ The more I watch, the more certain I am of the lunacy of attempting this peak. I cannot imagine any satisfaction if I had to traverse a route littered with the bodies of those that had failed in their attempt.
I returned to the park later in the day with Heidi and my camera. We went directly to the marsh, but were not fortunate enough to see the eagles again. Heidi knows they’re more than birds and she wanted to see them, but mostly just to make me happy. And it did.
Dinner was something horrible…but delicious. We had hot dogs rolled in Anne Ann’s dough and baked. This meal would not be complete if not complimented with chocolate milkshakes…which I made with Ruggles ice cream. I made some green beans, mushrooms, onions and spinach which I sautéed in olive oil…and ate instead of the potato chips…to compensate for the over abundance of fatty calories. This led to the watching of the documentary ‘Forks over Knives’ which I’ll get into tomorrow.
Bike Duration: 75 minutes. Hike duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 cycling, 80 hiking.Calories burned during workout: 850 biking, 200 hiking.
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