Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Oh MY! Is that an Eagle?

Back in the spring, I was driving to work. I take a fairly back-roads way to work, both to cut the time I have to spend with other drivers, and to enjoy the scenery. In the fall the trees are gorgeous, in the winter the roads are hazardous (well, they are that way everywhere, so it's better if there are fewer crazy drivers to contend with), and in the spring there are all kinds of beautiful natural sights to see.  One of the things I truly love is the amount of migrating birds that I see on the various small ponds on my way. I love to see all the Canada Geese, but it's a great treat to see Egrets, Blue Heron (which live here), Loons, and the occasional pairs of Swans.  I keep my eyes open for large birds at each of the ponds I pass, as I drive to work.  I can do this, because the road I travel is, as I said, less traveled, and there is rarely any traffic on it at the early hour I'm on my way to school.

One morning, as I rounded a hairpin turn, where of course slow is the way to go, I looked to the left at a small pond that sits just at this turn.  There on the side of the pond was a large, dark bird, that was quite large.  Its head was white, or so I thought.  I quickly pulled over to the side of the road, and rolled down my window.  Immediately I got out my very high def, Iphone camera, and snapped a photo, hoping to enlarge it enough to determine what kind of bird this was.  I was in full Sherlock Holmes bird mode at this point.  The bird was very cooperative, sitting there looking over the pond, just hanging out in the grass.  He (or it, as I could not determine the gender of this bird by looking at it) seemed to be interested in the contents of the pond, which for my purposes was just FINE!

The photo, of course, was too far away, now I wanted to get a closer look, but was well aware (being the bird expert I am) that the bird might fly off if I got too close. So, I took my phone and slowly crept toward the bird.  As I got closer, I realized this bird was MUCH larger than it had looked from the road and from my car.  I also found that it was not flying, but was hopping along the edge of the pond, and not going very fast either.  Now, I got worried!  I quickly went back to my car, looked up the number for the ODNR (Ohio Department of Natural Resources for you non-native nature people) and prepared to call them, should I need assistance.  I also took the small quilt (made by my mother, and always carried in the trunk of my car in case of emergencies, and THIS qualified as an emergency) and draped it over my arm.

I moved my position of approach to the rear of the bird.  This wasn't hard, as the area was a large meadow and the grass was not very tall yet.  You might picture me in a skirt, sandals, carrying a small quilt and an iphone, with ODNR on speed dial, sneaking quietly up on a large bird.  As I got closer, I began to realize that this bird was likely 3 to 3 1/2 feet tall!  AND it was definitely a bald eagle!  There was no doubt in my mind that I was on an even more important rescue mission than I had originally imagined.  I might also tell you that time was not important to me, never mind that I was supposed to be at school at a given time, never mind that I had NO idea what time it was, whether I'd be late, or whether the kids were in my room while I was out being Jack Hanna for the bald eagle, I was ON. A. MISSION!

You see, it was my reasoning, that this bald eagle was injured.  I mean, if it wasn't then when I approached, it would have flown away, but the fact it hopped in the grass, to me meant it couldn't fly, and if it couldn't fly it was vulnerable to predators.  Now, that meant that I needed to capture it, and hold it safely until the ODNR could come and rescue it, take it to a rehab facility, and then release it into the wild when it was all healed up.  I came upon this diagnosis in just a few moments, and with all my veterinarian training (all those hours of watching Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom as kid) and decided the best course of action would be to throw the quilt over the bird, tackle it, dial ODNR, then hold the bird quietly until they arrived.  I would, of course, call work after that and let them know I might be late.

So, I approached the bird, and quietly spread out the quilt.   The bird was cooperating, and while he wasn't getting any smaller, as I got closer, he also wasn't moving, reiterating to me that he definitely needed my help!  I got within about three feet of the bird, and must say that I felt a little bit intimidated, because he was big, his beak alone looked about as big as my hand, and those feet kinda looked like they could make hamburger out of my arms.  But, this was a national bird, a sense of honor was at stake here...I had to persevere.

I took a deep breath, another step, and just at that time, with a very industrious flap, that bird lifted off the ground, his wing span was so large that the air it created was amazing, and I literally fell backward in surprised.  I jumped to my feet, shouted and cheered, and nearly wet my pants with happiness!  I'm not sure if I was happy that the bird flew, or happy that I didn't have to tackle him and wait for ODNR, but it was, at least, a combination of those emotions!

I stood in that meadow as he flapped up into the trees, swooped back down over the pond (and little ol' me) and then fluttered to roost in a nearby tree.  I gazed at him for some time, breathing rapidly,  and sighed a huge sigh!  This was my second bald eagle spotting, but certainly my closest encounter!  I was amazed at the grandeur and power of this bird, felt blessed to have had the opportunity to have come so close, and thankful the bird was smarter than me, and knew when it was time to go, to save me some serious injuries to my body and my pride.

From now on, when I see a bald eagle, I'm going to enjoy from a distance, I'm pretty sure they can take care of themselves, and my mom's quilts can stay in the trunk!

Getting Caught Up

There will, my dear readers, be several posts (well, in theory, and hopefully, and all that stuff, good intentions...you know....) to catch up on what's been happening, and all the silliness that is my life.  I had big plans, but you know what they say about plans....

In June, shortly after my last post, Jazzman had a little health scare, well OK, it was a BIG health scare, and after a couple of months now, we are on the good side of that, but still have some climbing to do.  Just let me say that he's a really great patient, and is doing much better.  I am finding myself grateful for family and friends who have stepped in, helped out and provided much needed emotional support throughout this time.  When you find yourself faced with the possibility of losing the most important person in your life, you really learn to prioritize.  I thought I was good at that before, but let me tell you...I have become an expert now!

So, now that I have a chance to be thankful for the continuation of my dream romance, I can reflect on the things that have been happening throughout that time that make the Jazzman wonder at my goofiness, and keep him guessing and shaking his head.  There is a song, one of my favorites, by Guy Clark, about an 8 year old boy who climbs up on the garage with a flour sack cape on his neck, and jumps off the garage....in many ways, that's my theme song, if you listen, and you know me, you'll totally get why, if you listen and you don't know, me you'll certainly know me better.

And, that's why there will be multiple posts, coming all at once. Maybe more than one a day, perhaps even more than one an hour. Maybe they will run into each other and have multiple topics for each post, I just don't know.  I know I have a lot to say, and many stories to tell, so I've got to get them off my chest, and where better to do that than here, in cyber-space to my zillions of followers who hang on my every word (oh, yeah, that's right I think I have 7 followers, but hey, that's getting close to a zillion, right).

So, if you've a mind to, read on!  But, pace yourself, this might leave you breathless!