Eagles!

For the second year in a row, I drove up to the North Fork of the Nooksack River in December.  The eagles gather there to eat the salmon and they are absolutely gorgeous to watch and photograph.  Last year I went in the middle of the day, so this year I went up really early in the morning and was there for sunrise.  It was a spectacularly beautiful and frigid morning!

The changing colors as the sun came up were amazing.

This guy looked how I felt--cold!

Right around 8am a whole bunch of professional photographers showed up.  In between taking my own pictures of the eagles, I watched these photographers and started really feeling sorry for them.  They were so focused on the eagles and getting THE shot, they forgot to look behind them and see the sunrise.  It's always one of my prayers when I go on outings like this that I won't be so focused on getting the good shots that I forget to stop and look around and enjoy the beauty of creation.

Hawks were also in abundance.

 Right before I left Bryan looked me in the eye and said, "Remember, Sara, eagles are called birds of prey for a reason.  Be careful out there."  That thought ran through my head again as this guy flew right over my head.

 This picture isn't so spectacular as hilarious!  See the two eagles in the center?  They look like they're having a stand off over the fish on the shore and every other bird around was watching rather closely.

The trees were also quite full of finches.

Yum!  Breakfast anyone?

 How many eagles can you count in this picture?  My last count was 15.

It was a beautiful morning in quiet, in fun, in reflection, and in enjoying God's creation.  I'm looking forward to next year already!  Want to come along?

Blessings