Nature Done Wright

 
 
Karen Sarnowski writes:  You wrote about my favorite topic here in Upper Greenwood
Lake!

   We
have a pair of eagles with a juvenile that I have watched all fall.
 

    My first sighting was incredible because as I
saw a large bird moving in the air with many other birds flying crazy in the
sky, it continued to fly right in my direction and actually flew right over me
at treetop height; I could not believe my eyes….

   Click Continue reading…" for more of Karen's account.

    On that day I actually had four eagle
sightings, but as you can imagine spent most of my work day not working but
peering through my binoculars(we have an office suite attached to our home).
  

   One sighting was enough for me to venture
out many times a day with my binoculars to scan the lake's lakeside trees and
islands and then I began to see them regularly.

   Once I found their usual
perches I could count on seeing them multiple times a day
others
here have also seen them; one person has seen the family all sitting together
on a lake stump, multiple times.
  

   I have learned that if the other lake birds
are up in the air, flying erratically and honking or quacking, that an eagle is
somewhere nearby; works every time.
 

   I have seen the pair "dancing" as I
call it; swooping just over the lake together, twirling in circles around each
other.  I have been witness to this a number of different times, and it is
a beautiful thing to observe.
  

   I have seen one parent with the juvenile
hanging out together on an island's treetops.    With the cold, I  haven’t been out as much so have not spotted
them of late. We still have one small area of open water near where they hang
so they may still be around, and there is no shortage of squirrels for the
taking.
   I believe this pair is the same pair that
someone saw late fall last year(2008) out on the ice together sharing a fish. They
probably had their young last spring and, as your column says, it is absolutely
a thrill to see one up close in your neighborhood.  
 

   I was able to borrow a brother’s camera and
telephoto lenses and tripod to try to capture them in a picture but as of yet
no luck. Right now is perfect without leaves on the trees.
  

   I have learned how to distinguish the eagles’
soaring from the Turkey Vultures; the vultures soar erratically whereas the
eagles’ movements are much more gliding and regular.
  

   As long as other birds remain in the area,
if I hear a ruckus I can go running out with my binoculars and probably find
them — also have seen the crows going crazy and then actually chasing
one….that phenomena never ceases to amaze me: little birds chasing big birds.

   I have also heard many people say they have
seen eagles down on the Wanaque Reservoir, too.
   How lucky we are!