Sibling Rivalry

I love my wife for a billion reasons but one of her most admirable attributes is the fact that she always seems to be calm, cool and collected. Bonnie just seems to exude a Zen-like peacefulness that I have yet to master. So, when I heard her highly excited and repeated screams to me to grab my "camera WITH the big lens" and come outside to the yard, I knew it was going to be something special. And special it was.

The family of bald eagles which nests over our neighbor's lake home was putting on an airshow of a lifetime. The adult bald eagle had snatched a fish from the lake and the two sibling eagles seemed to be trying to settle who would first return to the next get the greatest share of the northern pike. They did battle in flight for several minutes and, at times, seemed to be viscous towards each other. As you can tell, I had trouble keeping up with the action with my 500mm lens. For every amazing acrobatic move one had, the other seemed to have an answer with a bold move of its own. They then flew off to consume they pike and my bet is they both got the share they deserved. After a few minutes, the family returned in a sort of VICTORY LAP flying tightly knit circles in synchronization just above the roof of our home. These birds put Top Gun's Maverick to shame.

As wonderful as this sight was, the expressions on Bonnie, the girls and my in-law's faces were equally as memorable. There is just something special about watching my family watching raptors.

I also back-blipped a MAGICAL OWL MOMENT which happened a few weeks ago.