I am a Birder

​On a fluke, several years ago I attending an early morning bird walk at Old World Wisconsin.  I had to leave the house by 4:30 am to arrive for the 6:00 am start.  The guide was a young man with a deep knowledge of Wisconsin bird species and the talent for calling birds with a whistle that imitated the bird call.  I was hooked.
In our backyard we feed birds all seasons and add feeders each season for different species.  In May we feed song birds, Baltimore Oriels, and hummingbirds, each with their own unique feeder.  The Baltimore Oriels will continue their journey north in a week or so.
Last I participated in the Chequamegon Birding Festival in Ashland, Wisconsin.  It was a learning experience but some of the logistics of the conference and traveling from location to location for bird sightings was difficult.  This year I attended during the conference but didn’t register for the conference classes or field trips – I was an independent birder.
It takes about five hours driving allowing for one short stop for a cup of coffee and sandwich.  A good portion of the trip is on Interstate highway until just north of Wausau.  Near Rhinelander I turned west on Highway 8 to Prentiss and then north on Highway 13 toward Ashland.  The road between Phillips and Glidden is straight as a ruler, tree lined and mesmerizing, especially after being behind the wheel about four hours.  The last stretch of the trip seems slow because often you get caught behind a slow tractor or a log hauling truck barely going 50 miles per hour.  Somewhere on that stretch of road I saw something a deer along the gravel side.  Something white popped up.  It was a large bald eagle with a piece of fresh deer meat in its bill.  The eagle didn’t move even though the car passed within four feet.  I took this sighting as a sign that it was going to be a very special birding trip.
Eagles generally hunt and eat live prey.  Scrounging a dead deer, even if recently dead, was unusual.  Eagles also hunt near or on rivers and not near a highway.  My guess was that nearby there were young eagles in a nest that needed a meal – it was the only explanation for this hunting behavior I could imagine.
When birding a person needs to be open and alert to anything that may occur without any warning.  On the drive back home I saw another eagle on the same stretch of road perched high in a tree – could have been the same eagle, I don’t know.  It has taken me years to learn how to listen, look and identify various species of birds but after this weekend I feel confident to call myself a birder.