Monday, October 20, 2014

From the Marsh Hen


Sunday morning 19 October, 2014

This morning on my way to the barn I spied a large presence sitting on a fence post at the back of the horse paddock, surveying the land round about.

At first, and from a distance, I thought it must be an unusually big cat or some other sizeable animal with a white head and tail.  On retrieving the binoculars, I saw the noble white bust of a magnificent eagle with his white leggings below. 

The chestnut thoroughbred, always curious, stood a few feet away, mightily intrigued.  He backed away, then re-approached, uncertain of his visitor.  As I watched, the eagle flew down to the ground and alighted right before the horse, not four feet away, as if to say, “You want to look at me?  Here I am!”  For a time they engaged in a seeming stand-off, no combat, rather a kind of show and tell.  Had it become a contest, I have no doubt the bird would have won.

Eventually the eagle had enough and took flight, soon joined by his mate.  Together the pair soared high overhead against a clear blue sky beneath a few white puffs of cloud, circling, riding the currents.  What a glorious, joyful sight they made!-- majesty in the air, winging eastward toward the woods and the creek on a sunny Sunday morning.

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