Photos by Donna

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This is my third post sharing my visit December 26th to Eastern Neck NWR.  As soon as I arrived, I saw two Bald Eagles flying together.  No love taps or chasing, just a nice bonding cruise across the sky.

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Bald Eagles flying together

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This next Eagle proved to be difficult to photography with all those little branches, no matter where I stood.

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Bald Eagle 01

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This last Eagle gave me so many pretty shots that s/he’s the main event of this post.

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Bald Eagle 02

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It had such a beautiful, intense look as it constantly scoured all directions.

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Bald Eagle 03

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In the next photo, notice the Eagle’s head is rotated about 180 degrees to look behind it.  Eagles have 14 cervical vertebrae allowing for the 180 degrees rotation.

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Bald Eagle 04 – rotating head 180 degrees

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Bald Eagle 05

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I slowly made my way closer to the Eagle, while my mind was in a repeating loop, “Please don’t fly….please don’t fly…..”

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Bald Eagle 06

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This Eagle was most definitely looking for someone.  Those eyes!

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Bald Eagle 07

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The Eagle even gave a couple looks my way but didn’t seem to care about me.

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Bald Eagle 08

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At one point, the Eagle let out a call.

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Bald Eagle 09

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And then looked back at me so pretty!

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Bald Eagle 10

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I excitedly thought it’s mate was flying up behind me!

As I spun around, it was actually a car that had just pulled up, and a family was getting out.  The Eagle was no doubt taking note of the humans now gathering.  🙂

The parents and their teenage son had driven two hours to visit the refuge for the first time, hoping to see an Eagle.  It was a delight to see their excitement.

We marveled over the Eagle together and then left it to it’s viewing.  It wasn’t going anywhere.  At least, not yet.

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