Fly like an Eagle

So on a day reminiscent of The First Bike Ride of Spring, Raven and I took advantage of the spring weather (finally!) and went for a bike ride along the banks of the river Platte. It wasn't warm exactly, but the sun was shining, the grass is turning green and there are definite signs that winter might be on the way out at last. (Don't get me wrong, the winters here are beautiful, but enough already.)

The wildlife were enjoying the mild weather too, so we kept our eyes peeled for anything that might be occurring. The birds in particular, seemed to be out in force, hawks and ravens and crows, many of them simply wheeling and circling in the sky, seemingly just for the fun of it. Before we even began our ride, we spent some time admiring two ravens circling ever and ever higher, apparently for no other reason than that they could.

All awesome stuff but best treat of all came later on the ride. Two golden eagles were playing in the sky up ahead. At one point I thought we'd lost them around a rocky crag but moments later, after a few moments they came swooping towards us, and flew not more than 15-20 feet above our heads before settling on the ground just a few yards away. One of them appeared to have something in its talons but they were obviously aware of our presence because before long, they took off for the tree tops and soon disappeared around the hill.

But not until we'd had the chance to enjoy the blessing of observing these magnificent creatures, from a distance closer than most people are ever lucky enough to experience in a lifetime.

I've seen quite a few bald eagles since moving to the States, but never a golden eagle, and never two at once, and never quite that close.

What a special privilege that was.