Bald Eagle!!!!

Today was a day I would've never--never--thought about for catching sight of an American Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus Leucochephalus). I always thought I'd see one of these elusive birds if I went on a bird walk to the most remote corners of a national park. But just today did I see one of these eagles flying calmly in circles above a busy highway, greeting the sun with its extended wings.

We were going back home on my friend's dad's car. She was visiting her father in New York, and they arranged to come to Maryland to visit me. This was her last day here, and her dad gave us a ride to IKEA, that giant home supplies store. 

We bought what we needed for our temporary home: A table, a pair of chairs, a nice bookshelf, some dishes...you know, stuff like that.  We hauled everything into the car and hit the road.

I was looking out at the endless row of trees on the right side of the highway, and spotted something flying way above the skies. Must be a vulture, I thought. But suddenly, the bird flew away from the sun, and I saw its snow-white head and tail....

This was a bird one would know anywhere, birder or not. The Bald Eagle kept flying, unaware of my amazement at its sight. The car followed along the highway, away and away from the eagle, until it completely disappeared from my sight. 

Just then did I cried out "Heeey, I just saw a Bald Eagle!!!". "Bald eagle?" asked my friend, whom was sitting next to me, "Like, they have no hair on their heads?". "Bald Eagle?!" said my sister. My brother ignored the conversation. Apparently, I would have to keep the joy for myself. Yet, it was a thrilling experience, even though it lasted for a few quick seconds.

This picture from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is quite similar to what I saw, only much closer and with much more detail:

-Cristina

Photos: Top Bald Eagle flying from Wiki Commons, bottom bald eagle in flight from Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

My Blog's First Flight

First Post, people!

Today, I officially decided to make a blog. Why? Well, every time I look out the window to my bird-feeders, or pretty much every time I see something interesting, I begin writing in my mind, such as the time when I saw a red-tailed hawk flying near the not-so-dense woods around my apartment a few weeks ago: "I quickly flung my binoculars and adjusted them on the hawk . The sun shone for a split second on the hawks tail, revealing a bright orange color, thus confirming its identification. The red-tailed hawk swooped down and let out a harsh keee-yeeeeer!, while heading directly towards the nearby woods. This was an amazing experience I will certainly never forget..." But I had nowhere where to write it down and show it to everyone. I didn't want a diary, because what I wrote was not "private", nor did I want a writer's notebook. After looking through Julie Zickefoose's blog I thought 'well, why not a blog?' and here it is.

Now I'll talk a little bit about myself. I am young, actually very young for the usual age someone would begin a blog.  I am a self-taught birder and artist. I am a native Costa Rican temporarily living in the U.S. I live in an apartment building with a balcony that has a beautiful view to a nearby patch of woods, and I live alongside a young brother and an older sister (both of them sometimes nice, but usually annoying :D) plus my mother and father. Back in Costa Rica I had my beloved dog, an adopted mutt named Meneco, and my little singing canary, Miss. Canary. 

Here in this blog I'll talk about several things, not only about my own life and wildlife observations, but also about conservation issues and maybe even a little bit of politics. Therefore, expect quite a lot of interesting posts over here. I may post new entries every day, maybe even more than once a day, but if I don't post anything for a long time without telling anything, it's perhaps because of this Internet of ours, that sometimes isn't very cooperative.

I'll finish this post with a gorgeous black-and-white picture I took of my good old mutt, Meneco:

Doesn't he look angelical in that picture? Doesn't he?

-Cristina

Top Photo: Juvenile Red-tailed hawk, from Wiki Commons