Sylvan and I have seen two bald eagles in two days! On Saturday, Sylvan and I went to the Finley Wildlife Refuge near Corvallis with Courtney (“Cokie”) — nanny extraordinaire, Mt. Pisgah Arboretum Walks & Workshops Coordinator, and fantastic friend — to go for a soggy hike. We had just driven into the refuge, and I was going slowly so Courtney, a true birder with her binoculars, could look at the ducks, and I looked up to see a BIG, dark bird overhead. Courtney said, “That’s an eagle,” and, sure enough, when it passed directly over us, we could see its white head. The rest of the day passed soppily. I didn’t even pack rainpants, since it never rains that hard in Oregon. Wrong. Courtney was a great sport, the kind of hiking companion you want to have when it’s cold and wet and miserable: honest but not whiney. On our drive out, I stopped for some California quails. “Look, California quails!” I said, a bit too loudly. Courtney, looking at me and cutting to the chase, said, “Sure, you’re not a birder.”
Yesterday, Sylvan and I traveled up to Corvallis again, this time to paint our friend Leslie’s bee boxes and visit with her chickens. Yesterday’s bald eagle flew over I-5 like any crow or starling, without fanfare.