Love was in the air today as I watched from the fish hatchery grounds two bald eagles do their aerial foreplay above the marsh. I wasn't quick enough to get photos of the happy couple as they did a diving spiral into the marsh, but I did get some photos of a rejected suitor who made a quick landing in the tall dead tree near the fish hatchery, then flew off. Three's a crowd, even in the avian world.

I?walked down Willow Creek from the fish hatchery out to the edge of the marsh up to the cattails. About 30 yards ahead I could see some very large wings ocasionally rising above the cattails. Better to leave the lovers alone.?? After a while both?eagles flew off. I remained in the marsh?taking photos of small birds flying among the cattails and the resident juvenile sharp shinned hawk which was perched in a tree?about 100 yards north of me. ?

After leaving the marsh, I walked along Point Edwards, hoping to catch the resident juvenile red-tailed hawk in the light stand like I did yesterday. It wasn't there, so I looked to see if the eagles had flown to the tall fir trees above Sunset Ave., one mile north of my location.? The low sun shining on the bright white feathers of the adults?(with help from my 100-400 zoom) made them easy to spot?from even a mile away.


I walked back to?my pickup parked by the entrance to the fish hatchery.? Parked behind me was a gentleman?attaching to his camera a telephoto lens the size of a small artillary piece.? We got talking and realized that we?were fellow Tweetsters.? I had?run into?Jerome of Lynnwood who was out field testing his brand new camera.? We found out that we also share the hobby of motorcycle riding.?

Things were slow at the hatchery, so we drove over to the walkway at the northern edge of the marsh.? We met Melissa, another bird photo from Edmonds?who was out taking advantage of the day's sunshine.?? Melissa has a Canon 100-400 zoom just like mine.???Nothing was happening in the marsh, but the resident Anna's hummingbird put?on quite a show behind us.? That hummingbird is?a?very dependable poser. ??

Jerome had to leave, so?Melissa followed me to Sunset Ave.? The two eagles were still?in the tree tops?and remained there when?we departed after sunset.??We got some very good shots of the eagles caling to one another.
Bill Anderson; Edmonds, WA.