The first good surprise was a visit from my Mom. She called after lunch on Friday and asked if we had plans for the weekend. With nice weather in the forecast, she hit the road and was here by suppertime! On Saturday, we drove to Eagle Park to check on the raptors–no eagles in sight. A couple of hours later we checked again and found both sitting in the tree.
Chris walked down to the river as Mom and I started around the eagle tree trail. Soon the male flew toward the river. When Chris caught up to us, he said he had scared up a flock of pigeons from under the bridge. From his vantage point in the tree, the male probably saw the pigeons fly up and hoped to catch a meal. The female watched as we walked the trail.
We hiked the circular path around her tree, getting a look at her from all angles.
Mom was surprised by the huge granite boulders that were scattered throughout the park.
One of the rocks was called Morton Gneiss, estimated to be about 3.5 million years old–the oldest type of rock in the United States. It is normally found in southwest Minnesota, so how this rock got here was a ‘geological puzzle!’
I think the eagle tree and nest are an anatomical puzzle! How does the tree hold such a huge nest? And how do the eagles engineer such a marvel?
After leaving Eagle Park, we drove along Rockville County Park road and found the second good surprise of the weekend–another eagle’s nest! It’s about a mile away from the first nest and is not as large. We had driven by it before, but with the leaves on the trees, we had not noticed it.
As I was trying to focus in on the nest and get a picture, an eagle flew in with a rabbit or something dangling from his talons. Chris and Mom saw it, but I missed it! We know the nest has a mated pair, and I’m really excited to watch the raising of eaglets in two different nests!
(Watch Minnesota DNR’s live webcam of an eagle’s nest in the Twin Cities area.)
A beautiful, relatively warm weekend in the first part of February is certainly a nice surprise, but this one was made even better with a visit from my Mom. Both of us love the outdoors, and almost every visit includes some sort of walk or hike in Nature, whether she comes to Minnesota or I go to South Dakota. The unexpected in Life can affect us in a myriad of ways, depending on the event, our previous expectations, our stage in life, and the openness of our heart. My weekend was totally different from what I expected but in a good way! I’m grateful for a healthy Mom to hike with, a loving and supportive husband, the old and new in Life, and good surprises!
i loved to see the eagles, both the expected and unexpected, but the best part was to experience the walk (those rocks were awesome) and the sightings with you and Chris. i am fortunate to have family who share my love of nature and to share it in planned and/or spur-of-the -moment times. Thank you.
Mom
Good to have you here!