Eagles

We have a pair of bald eagles that nest up on the mountainside behind the village of Monroe. They soar over the lakes formed by the hydro-electric dams on the Connecticut River looking for fish or small animals. I always hope to see one swoop down to catch a fish, but I haven’t yet.



One day last summer, one passed right over the car no more than a hundred feet above me. I felt a shiver as I watched it through the open sunroof.

Eagles are huge, majestic birds that are experts at riding air currents for hours on end. They seem to know right where to find the thermal updrafts and use them to gain altitude to save precious energy during long hunts for food. If it’s a bright sunny day, their white head and tail feathers turn shockingly bright when the sun catches them just right.

The river ice thawed during this week’s warm spell, leaving most of the river open water. I was surprised to see three eagles soaring over the river. I wondered if one was a young bird that has yet to leave the nest.