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The lucky part
was driving behind this bald tree and finding two bald
eagles using it as a platform to hunt for food. The not so
lucky part involved wading in a freshly-fertilized field to
line up the tree with the rising moon.
On a first date,
no less.
I did not plan
to take any pictures on this particular afternoon. My date
mentioned that she liked the outdoors and I thought a fun
activity would be to drive to the Skagit Valley to look at
the wintering snow geese. It is an amazing sight: tens of
thousands of snow geese spend a fair part of the winter in
the farmers fields around Mount Vernon. The previous winter,
I managed to get a relatively close-up image of a flock in
flight and I doubted that I would get anything better on
this particular day. My camera gear was in the trunk,
though, just in case.
We started out
in the south end of the valley and saw a couple of trumpeter
swans out in a muddy field, then proceeded to drive north
where I was sure we were going to see the geese.
Along the way, I
got distracted. Driving along Fir Island Road, I saw two
bald eagles sitting together in a tree. I have plenty of
images of single bald eagles in trees, but I didn't have any
images of two sitting together. I was temped to keep driving
and avoid making a bad impression on my date until I noticed
the moon rising in my rear-view mirror.
I pulled off to
the side of the road, pointed out the birds to my date and
pulled out my camera gear. I could get an image of the birds
together from the road, but I really wanted the moon in the
frame as well. Problem is, the only way to do that would be
to walk out into a freshly-fertilized field. Judging from
the smell, it was painfully obvious the farmer used organic
fertilizer.
I apologized to
my date, explained what a unique photographic opportunity
this was, and told her I would be right back. Instead, she
said she wanted to trudge out into the field with me.
After watching
and photographing the eagles we did eventually head north
and see the snow geese.
And yes, we're still
together.
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