Well, this week seems like a good week to jump back into the Favorite Thing Friday with Shay over at Quilting in my Pyjamas!
On Friday, January 28th, I posted about the Norfolk Botanical Gardens Eagles as my Favorite Things Friday. I posted an update on February 16th, announcing 3 eggs laid. I didn't get a chance to post that all three eggs had hatched and eaglets were doing ok, before the devastating news that the Mama Eagle had been hit and killed by a landing plane. I never followed up about what happened to them, although I followed them regularly.
The three eaglets were removed from the nest and taken to a world-renowned wildlife center. The Wildlife Center of Virginia. This wasn't without controversy, but the experts decided that Daddy Eagle wouldn't be able to provide for three growing eaglets and himself, and that several would perish or Dad would perish if he tried.
Fast forward to this week, and three months to the DAY that they were removed from the nest.
All three were released into the wild, as well as two other juvenile eaglets that from different situations that were rehabbed and ready to go. A 5 eaglet release into the wild.
I went and attended this in person, and this is my Favorite Thing Friday this week (even though it happened on Wednesday!)
These incredible birds have come full circle and are now free to live out their destiny as the symbol of our country. Here are some pictures of the big day:
This picture does not do justice how many people were there. Last I heard there were 1200 people from 22 state and 4 provinces in Canada.
DGIF (Department of Game and Inland Fisheries) were on hand just in case a rescue was needed.
Ed Clark was THE man of the hour. He is one of the main people in charge at the Wildlife Center of Virginia.
Ed Clark gets ready to release the first of 5. Can you just SEE the size of these creatures???
Release in ONE......
Two......
Three! And off she goes!
Dr. Miranda (a key vet in the eaglets care) gets set to release another one.
Off to freedom in ONE.....
TWO.....
Airborne!!!
Steve Living (with DGIF) gets set for another release. Note the sign in the background. It refers to the mama eagle who some have dubbed "Lady Legacy".
Getting ready for lift-off!
And the toss!
And she's airborne!
It was truly emotional to watch, and I cried as each eagle flew to it's freedom. Happy and Proud tears. I wasn't the only one! Lots of folks were crying... LOL! I think it was really Eagle dander in my eye....
And lastly, for your viewing pleasure, I managed to capture one of the releases on video:
Thanks for hanging in there through all the pics and the video! I hope you enjoyed it ever-so-slightly!
A few weeks ago I posted about the Norfolk Botanical Garden's Eagle Cam as part of a Favorite Things Friday. We were anxiously awaiting the eggs, and now they are here! 3 eggs were laid, each three days apart. The first on February 3rd, the second on February 6th, and the third on February 9th. The eggs will hatch between 35-38 days later, which will be around the first part of March.
While there is not a "LOT" of activity right now, there is almost always guaranteed to be an eagle on the nest. The male and female are switching out right now, and at times you can see them get up and "roll" the eggs.
The camera quality is one of the best I've seen on any wildlife cam. Here is a screen shot from this morning:
Male eagle (or DADDY)
It's supposed to be 70+ degrees here on Friday, and I'm off work. I'm seriously considering wandering over to the Gardens to see if I can see the eagles out hunting!
Today was our date with an APE. Let me explain... APE, or Mission 9, is a historic geocache. From the cache page:
This cache is aProject APEcache, a cache hidden with permission for the Planet of the Apes Promotion in 2001.
You can click the link above if you really want the full back story. But it's an old cache, and one of only two left in the world. Originally, it was a 4 mile hike, mostly flat, but walking through a one and a half mile former train tunnel. All accounts I heard, was that the tunnel was dark, and once you got in it, all you could really see was.... the light at the other end of the tunnel. That starts as a small dot, and slowly grows as you get close to the end.
But, alas, the tunnel was closed last year due to safety issues. BUMMER!
Now, the only way to access the APE cache is to hike up a mountain. The first mile is uphill, with an elevation gain of about 750 feet. Being from one of the flattest parts of the country, this was a bit daunting....
But we were rewarded with great stops along the way, like this waterfall above, that flowed under this bridge below.
Although there were about 300-400 people making the hike that day, I wouldn't have picked anyone other than these three other women to do it with! We all really helped each other get up there! So much fun!
This sign greeted us when we got to the top of the trail that marked the flat part of walk for about a mile.
You can see from this pic, that there were a lot of people up there, but at least this part of the trail was flat, flat, flat. It was very welcome!
The organizers arranged to have some mascots there when we arrived, so we took the opportunity to take some pics, too.
The best part was the hike and the camaraderie throughout the day. One of us gals had bronchitis, but trucked along. One of us had a bum knee, but trucked along....
And coming down the mountain was just as rough as going up. BUT, we all DID, and Conquered the APE!
Today, we flew from the East Coast to the West Coast. The flights were comfortable and uneventful, even though we had to get up at the un-godly hour of 3:30am. But this early flight allowed us to get into SEA at 11:17 am. So we still had a better part of the day to explore. We weren't meeting up with some of our friends until thursday evening...
So we drove out west on Hwy 90 to Snoqualmie. There was a neat Casino there, and this was the view from the parking lot!
But the main attraction was the Snoqualmie Falls in town.
The raging falls turn into this docile river in mere feet from the bottom.
The falls are undergoing construction right now, to upgrade the hydroelectric power. In three years, the falls will generate electric power to 40,000 homes!
Even from where this picture was taken, we were still getting wet from the mist flying. It was a loud, powerful roar the entire time we were there, as well!
I'm so glad we took the time to go by here. Although we found out later that on Saturdays (we were there on Wednesday) there is a train that goes down to the bottom and along side the falls that provide even more amazing views. So sorry we missed that!
Stay tuned for Day 2 - A short trip to Canada to get my passport stamped. Or not.....
Last Saturday, a group of us went to Tangier Island for the day. Well, not for the whole day, really, but for a visit. This is a place I've always wanted to visit, and I'm so glad I did!
Tangier Island is literally in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. The only way to get there is by boat or plane. There are several ferries that go, and that's the way we opted for the day.
We caught the ferry in Reedville. Of course, it took us 2+ hours to get there. But once there, the ferry ride promised to be about 1.5 hours to the island.
This is our friend Larry. He told us he gets motion sickness, and was looking a little green. We hadn't left the dock yet!
On the way out, we passed a lot of ruins in the creek of previous fishing companies. This one had an Osprey nest on top, and we could see the babies sticking their heads up.
You could tell this area was a thriving fishing area. The captain said these boats were full of fish waiting to be unloaded.
One of the many fishing vessels we passed during the day.
This sign is at the mouth of the creek.
From the bay, our first glimpse of Tangier.
This sign is one of the first you see when you get off the ferry and onto the main road.
This is the majority of the group that we were with today.
While on the beach, we saw half a dozen planes landing on the island.
And that half a dozen all landed in the frame of about 15 minutes. Definitely a busy airport!
At one of our stops, a local woman came out and chatted with us about the island. She was so sweet and pleasant, and actually seemed glad that we were visiting. Thanks Ms. Pruitt!
While riding through town, we passed the library. The Muddy Toes Library.
Yes, it was a shed. It wasn't open, so we didn't venture in to see the selection.
Then we had lunch at Hilda Crockett's Chesapeake house. Family style, with all you can eat crabcakes and TONS of side dishes.
We definitely put a hurting on the food. And everything was delicious. Especially the crabcakes AND the corn pudding! Some of the best I've ever had!
We had only a short time to wander around before the ferry left again, but I did see this neat mural on the west side of town. Definitely depicts their way of life here.
Then, the ferry was waiting to take us back.
We figured that we were in the car for 4+ hours, on the ferry for 3+ hours, and only on the island for 2+ hours. May have to go back and visit one of the Inn's or B&B's for an overnight stay.
And what did we learn about the island? There are about 650 permanent residents. Their main way of life is fishing, crabbing, and tourism. They are the soft-shelled crab capitol of the world. They only have a couple of vehicles on the island and the main modes of transportation are golf cart and bikes. They have a bit of an accent that's hard to place, but it's definitely their own.
Their island is sinking AND the bay is rising. So the island is disappearing. How long will it be around???
I'm so glad I finally got out there. Having heard about this place my entire life. It's certainly worth a visit!
We've seen this location from the interstate many times, but today ventured to find out where it was. We were met with a set of super steep stairs, but then made it to the pier...
The descent.
A view of the marsh.
The daunting task of the ascent. We made it, and it was a lot of fun! I would definitely go out here and see this again!
