Thursday Walkabout: Our National Bird

The Bald Eagle became our national bird in 1782, and is the one eagle unique to North America. The bald eagle's scientific name signifies a sea eagle with a white head. Bald eagles may be found throughout most of North America, from Alaska and Canada to northern Mexico.

Bald eagles were declared an endangered species in 1967 in most areas of the United States. In 1995, the US Fish and Wildlife Service upgraded the status of bald eagles in the lower 48 states to "threatened." In 2007 the American bald eagle was removed from the Endangered Species List. They are still protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen an increase in Bald Eagles in our neck of the woods. They’re literally in our back yards in this area now.  Until that time, I had never seen a Bald Eagle up close and personal. Viewing a Bald Eagle in flight makes my heart skip a beat!  This ‘eagle season’ I’ve had two meetings with them. A few weeks ago an eagle swooped my car (just saying hi?) when I was getting close to home. A few days after that encounter, I was feeding the geese and one flew just a few feet over our heads peering down on us. Awesome! (But, maybe he/she was eyeing my geese?!).

Mr. W and I were able to capture some photos of  “our locals” this week.  In the mosaic you will see an eagle in flight, and one roosting in the tree  – both of those eagles have a mottled appearance. That means he or she is a juvenile. They’re not the best quality pics – lots of zoom and crop here, but not bad! I’ll throw in my favorite shot of the day at the end.

Enjoy your day!