Seven Bald Eagles

A dog and I played ball along a river beach. Fog hovered. It was morning and a light rain fell. A red and white freighter moved silently upriver. No one was around. I hurled the ball and the dog took off. I looked left up toward the dunes and saw three bald eagles some 30 yards away perched on pieces of driftwood. They were staring at two other bald eagles ripping apart and eating something at the wrack line. Then I beheld another pair of bald eagles also perched on pieces of driftwood and staring at the two feeders. Seven eagles! None of them in the air. That was a first for me and I ranked it as my second best bald eagle experience of my life. Nothing will ever top hiking Cascade Head and emerging into a clearing overlooking the Salmon River Estuary and having a bald eagle fly below me. How many people can say they’ve seen a bald eagle fly below them?

The dog came up to me with the ball. I turned my back to the bald eagle menagerie and hurled the ball toward the river. I turned back around to watch the eagles. I performed this routine for several minutes. Then one time, I turned around and the eagles were all in flight, heading for the tree line.

It is a fine thing to start your morning with bald eagles.