Lakeside Pleasures

Boy, what's the matter with me?!  I'm feeling so lazy I haven't posted a blog since Monday.  Must be spring fever, brought on by the last two sunny warm days, making me just want to mellow out and toss all my duties aside.  I did get outdoors, of course,  but mostly to mosey or just sit back, close my eyes, and turn my face to the sun.  But yesterday, Sue and I pushed ourselves to walk all the way around Moreau Lake,  happy to have a snowless shore to walk on.

We'd brought picnic lunches, planning to bask on the sandy beach at the northern end of the lake, but a brisk wind sweeping across what remained of the ice kept us moving, hoping to find a more sheltered spot in the lee of the mountains.  Although a calm day would have made for pleasanter picnicking, we were glad for the breeze that sent these ripples to dapple the underwater sand with dancing streamers of gold.  Plus flashing all the other colors of the rainbow.  Be sure to enlarge this photo with a click to see how prismatic these wavelets are, creating a gorgeous kaleidoscopic effect.  I stood and watched for the longest time, just mesmerized.

 I couldn't decide which photo I liked better, so I've posted both.

We eventually made it around the lake, where we found a bench that was both in the sun and out of the wind.  There we sat to enjoy our lunch and a splendid view of the lake and the sky.  That's when Sue saw it, a huge bird soaring way up high and moving fast on the thermals:  an eagle for sure, but not (she believed) a Bald Eagle.  Not even a juvenile Baldie.  Sue knows her birds, and when she got home and checked her books, her suspicions were confirmed:  she'd spied a Golden Eagle.  A nice way to end our already golden morning.

Chasing Upstream After Eagles

When my friend Sue and I agreed to meet today at Moreau Lake State Park, we didn't know where we might hike.  All we knew was that it was a gorgeous day and we wanted to be outside under that perfectly clear, radiant blue sky, preferably on a trail in the park.  But after we got talking with park staffers and heard reports of eagles feeding on a deer carcass up near Hadley on Stewart's Pond, that's where we headed instead. 

We hadn't even left the park, though, speeding along the Hudson River on Spiers Falls Road, when Sue called out, "There's an eagle on that island!"   Of course, we pulled over to get a good look.  Can you see it, perched in a tree out there?

Here's a little closer look, thanks to my camera's zoom.  Not a very clear shot, but at least you can tell it's an eagle.  We tried to sneak a little closer, but the eagle took flight and disappeared downstream.

So we continued on our way north, finding the Hudson again at Corinth and following the river upstream to Hadley, where the Hudson meets the Sacandaga River.  We then followed the Sacandaga upstream to Stewart's Pond, where, sure enough, we saw that deer carcass out on the ice.  No eagles were feasting on it, though.  Breakfast must have been over.

We got out of the car and walked the length of the Stewart's Pond Dam, a massive earthen dam set among truly stunning scenery of river, forest,  and mountains.  We were hoping to catch another glimpse of the rollicking cloud of Snow Buntings our passing had scared up from the grass, but somehow they'd managed to disappear completely.  We couldn't miss the large raven that flew right over our heads, fanning its wedge-shaped tail and croaking its greeting, and then Sue's eagle eyes saw another large dark bird soaring above the distant tree line -- a large dark bird with snow-white head and tail, our second eagle sighting of the morning!

Our next stop was a few miles further upstream to another large dam at Conklinville, above which the vast Sacandaga Reservoir extends for miles, rimmed by conifer forests and rugged mountains.   We never saw any more eagles here, but that didn't stop our spirits from soaring.  Who wouldn't feel uplifted, surrounded by such natural splendor?

Sue works afternoons, so as midday approached we headed home, stopping in Lake Luzerne to have lunch at the Waterhouse Restaurant. (Very good!)  We got chatting with the restaurant owner, who, when he learned what we'd been up to, told us of many eagle sightings along the Hudson north of Lake Luzerne.  Sue and I looked at each other and grinned.  We didn't even need to say it:  There was our next adventure!

A Three-Eagle, One-Photo Day

Wow, a three-eagle day, and THIS was the best photo I could get?!   With the naked eye, I could hardly see that Bald Eagle perched in the tree along the Hudson River yesterday,  although my binoculars showed it clearly enough.

My camera couldn't see it very well, though.  This is the closest I can crop without pixillation.  But I think the white head and tail are evident even in this blurry shot.

When I say a three-eagle day, I should amend that to say Sue's three-eagle day, since my friend Sue is the one who actually saw and identified the distant specks that only later revealed themselves to be eagles.  We started our birdwatching day yesterday at the Betar Byway in South Glens Falls, where Sue saw the first eagle flying along the river (I arrived too late to catch sight of it).  After waiting in vain for a reappearance while stamping our feet in the cold, we then hopped in our nice warm cars and moved upstream to where the Hudson makes its big curve just above the Spier Falls Dam in Moreau.  That's where we saw the eagle perched in the tree above, very close to the site where state park naturalists have placed a road-killed deer carcass.  It was probably resting after enjoying its carrion breakfast.

That eagle soon took to the air and soared close over our heads before taking off upstream with the heavy, slow wingbeats so distinctive of this species.  Here, Sue and another eagle enthusiast named Pat follow the bird's flight until it disappeared among the trees far upstream.  Pat is a truly dedicated seeker of eagles who had been at this site for many hours already before Sue and I arrived, and it was she who pointed out the one I managed to photograph.

Pat also told us about another good spot for eagle sightings, Fish Creek at Stafford's Bridge, so off we drove to Stafford's Bridge Road between Saratoga and Schuylerville.  We were just in the process of telling each other we didn't think this was a likely spot, when this great big brown juvenile eagle came soaring toward us, dive-bombing a double line of pigeons sunning themselves on power lines right over our heads.  I hope Sue got a good photo, because I sure didn't.  Maybe she'll post a photo of it on her wonderful blog Water-Lily.

 So Pat's recommendation came true after all, and we thank her for it.  We'll have to revisit often, as long as the water stays open.


Three eagles in one day is rather remarkable, especially since they quite promptly disappeared from sight soon after we saw them.  Most days, we search and search to no avail.  On Sunday afternoon, my husband and I stopped by the Hudson bend at Moreau, hoping to spot eagles feeding at the deer carcass.  We didn't see any, but the river was so lovely and serene I just had to take photos of it.  If I were an eagle, I'd sure like to call this place my home.

The Eagles Are Here!

The Hudson ran dark and glassy today, providing the perfect background for spotting the snowy-white heads and tails of adult Bald Eagles.  With high hopes that we might do just that, about a dozen folks accompanied Moreau Lake State Park naturalist Gary Hill to the river this frosty-cold morning to search the water, the sky, and the forested banks where these majestic birds can sometimes be seen perching in trees.  Here we are at the boat launch site below Spier Falls Dam, scanning the hillsides downstream.

Here, my friend Sue is searching the river upstream.  We saw no eagles at this particular site, but Sue did point out some Hooded Mergansers paddling close to the opposite shore.

After stopping to search the river at several other places along Spier Falls Road, with no trace of eagles anywhere, we made our final stop at the boat launch site above Spier Falls Dam.  Here, the river was mostly frozen over, although there were still a few patches of open water where eagles could fish.  Also, as a feeding station to attract the eagles, park staffers had placed the carcass of a road-killed deer on the rocky promontory visible on the left side of this photo.  If we were going to see any eagles today, this was the best place to spot them.

Sure enough, sharp-eyed Sue spotted an adult eagle flying along the hillsides upstream, although we promptly lost sight of it as it moved behind trees.  While most of our group continued to search for that elusive eagle upstream, I trained my binoculars across the bay to this clump of trees on the rocks, where I spotted a splotch of white.  Hey, I called, I think we've got another one here!

And there it was, just sitting there calmly in that clump of trees, directly above the deer carcass that had no doubt provided its breakfast.  I wish I could say that this photo was of that eagle, but it's actually one I took of another eagle along the Hudson last year.  Today's eagle took off before I could open my camera, and it flew across the bay to perch on the opposite bank, far out of my camera's focal range but clearly visible to us across the water.  Gary had brought along a spotting scope, so everybody was able to get a good view of this magnificent bird, which provided a nice reward for our standing around in the cold.