Love those Eagles...

Friday, November 16, 2012
When a company declares bankruptcy and 18,500 people lose their jobs, it’s a tragedy.  That’s what will happen when Hostess goes out of business and the world is deprived of Twinkles.  So much blame is being heaped on the strike by the Bakery Union and this may be the straw that broke the camel’s back, but slumping sales are more likely the culprit.  In an era when the consumer is bombarded by concerns from the health community about obesity and diabetes, should it come as a big surprise that Americans are buying less Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Ho Ho’s, Dolly Madison pastries and Wonder Bread?  I mean even if you’ve been living under a rock, you know that this stuff doesn’t build stronger bodies twelve ways (youngsters are forgiven for not remembering this advertising angle for their Wonder bread).  So…as sorry as I am about the jobs, when you’re pedaling poison, you run some risks.

With the last of the leaves on the ground (almost), I spent an hour raking and hauling them to the tree lawn…before going to work.  It turned out to be a beautiful fall day, as predicted, which made me happy that I’d driven the Jeep to work with the kayak on top.  I headed straight to the East Branch Reservoir from work and amazed to find the water level back to normal as I drove up to the put-in.  On my last trip…prior to Sandy…the levels were down at least six feet, making navigation difficult in many places and impossible in others.  The reservoir stretches from the dam on Route 608 north to Mayfield Road and beyond.  On my last trip though, the water levels were so low, that I couldn’t paddle to the Mayfield Road bridge, coming up short by over a quarter mile.  Not today.

I unloaded quickly and grabbed my binoculars to help me try and spot the eagles I’d seen on my previous trip.  There is a nest north of Mayfield Road in the nature preserve and is the reason that spotting the pair and their young somewhere on the Reservoir a likely proposition.  I’ve been fortunate on a number of occasions, but find myself coming on them unexpectedly and having them fly off before I can swing my camera into action.  It was my hope that I’d spot them first with the binoculars and then make a slower, less threatening approach.

With the leaves off the trees surrounding the Reservoir, I had no trouble spotting my first two.  They turned out to be the immature youngsters…about the size of an adult, but without the brilliant white head and chocolate brown body.  As is the norm, I paddled to within about a hundred yards before they decided I was close enough and flew off.  I paddled to the end of the Reservoir at Mayfield Road and peered under the bridge at the nest in the Nature Preserve just beyond wondering if the parents were hanging around.  They weren’t and after five minutes of combing the surrounding trees with the binoculars, turned my kayak and headed back towards the put-in. 

I was headed in a direction that was bouncing the sun’s rays off the water and making my treetop scanning difficult.  When I saw something in the distance high in a tree where nothing would be normally, I reached for my binoculars and was pleased to see it was an adult male.  I paddled out further from the shore to pass it with the intent of turning and approaching from the rear so the sun would be at my back and make picture taking a stronger possibility.  To my surprise, the eagle allowed me to drift directly under it and so I did, snapping over 200 pictures as I did.  It dawned on me that I’d seen the pair flying together on my last trip here, so I began looking behind me for the mate.  I quickly made out the other magnificent adult less than fifty yards to my rear, but when I turned the kayak and took a couple of strokes in its direction, the show ended.  It took to the air and was quickly joined by its mate.  Since it all happened before I’d anticipated any flight, I was caught holding the paddle instead of the camera.  Thrilled with what I’d already seen…and photographed…I made my way for home, excited to download my shots.


I wasn’t disappointed as I began scanning the photos into my Iphoto program.  They were spectacular.  I’d managed beautiful close-ups and was witnessing detail on the birds I’d never seen before.  I posted a dozen shots on facebook and made my favorite shot my screensaver.

Sometimes you get lucky.  I’d kayaked on a serene body of water for almost two hours, photographed four different eagles, gotten a decent workout and lost myself in the setting and nature.  I was wind burned, my butt was killing me from sitting in the kayak so long, my elbow was sore from loading, unloading and paddling the kayak, and I couldn’t have been more satisfied or happy.  For me, it’s the simple things.

Kayak Duration: 90 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 80-100 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 750.