Hangin' with the Eagles

From the deck of my motel in Port Hardy, I enjoyed watching the bald eagles hang out.

They would perch in the trees and watch for prey, or cruise around just above the water, searching for fish. One morning one eagle brought a catch onto the tide flat, and they all showed up to try to get a share of the spoils, or maybe just to chat. What do eagles talk about, anyway? Do they root for their favorite teams? One eagle to the next..." I hear they're bringing McNabb back...think he'll last the whole season?" "nah, he gets hurt just falling out of bed." Or maybe..."how do you think BC will do this year?" "they haven't been the same since Flutie left!" Of course the eagles are referring to the Philadelphia and Boston College football teams, both teams named the eagles. Who else would an eagle root for anyway?

It appeared to me that the eagles were fairly generous among themselves; the biggest senior eagle ate first, but when he was done he let the other eagles join in, even the young ones...they're the ones without white head and tail feathers. Incidentially, bald eagles don't sound too majestic; they chirp rather than squawk or hoot, kind of a wimpy, high pitched sound. But they're very vocal...they were carrying on much of the time I was at the motel.