a good dusting

I haven't gone on any road trips this Winter to look for Snowy Owls, or other birds for that matter. My day trip max is two hours one way, and those are rare. Maybe once or twice a year. If I go, I usually stay local-ish and try to spot more common feathers. Although there have been a couple Snowy's spotted not too far, including on the lake I recently posted about.

I decided to make a trip to the river to see what I can see. I took a short detour on my way, and found Canadian Geese. Gee, what a surprise. There are bazillions of these messy birds, everywhere. I enjoy watching them fly.

I have seen interesting floaters from a lesser known viewing spot on the West side of the river. Not this time. I found more geese and some common ducks. I decided to pass on watching them and check out the much busier East side of the river. Most public river viewing areas had been roped off for Winter safety. 

I am usually alone and either shoot from my truck or don't venture far anyways. Depends on where I am and who is around. I've been warned by locals not to walk the wooded part of the river path alone, so I don't. Brad, Tank and I discovered some cool secluded seating & viewing areas during warmer weather walks. There are some places where you can go down by the river banks. The lookouts are wonderful.

My viewing was all done at a long distance, thank goodness for zooms!! I finally figured out where Eagle Island is. Sure enough, there was one lone Eagle doing lots of nothing.
 

It was windy & cold. I didn't stay long, Other people showed up and watched the island eagle from the warmth of their vehicles. On the way back to my truck, I spotted an immature eagle suddenly swoop down from the trees across the river. It caught me by surprise. The flight was over in seconds. I did the panic, fling my camera up, waver-n-hope familiar snap thing lol. Not the sharpest photos.

I checked on the island eagle before heading out. Yep, he was still perched. I watched him turn his head, and give a small flock of geese the stink eye for flying by his island.

I tried to find a better vantage point, facing the opposite direction. I still had to shoot at a great distance, and now also through trees. This stoic guy was clearly not going anywhere anytime soon.

Time to head home, after my short & sweet photography adventure. I was happy to have dusted off my camera.

Birding is kind of like looking for a needle in a haystack. You know where the hay is, but good luck finding the needle.