The Free Radical

We had just gotten to the road beside the swamp, a couple of hundred metres from where we first saw the eagle the day before. Sitka was sniffing out bones behind me…

Up and to my left there was the sound of sails flapping in a sudden gust, loud like the thick canvas from a full-sized pirate ship. (I was pretty sure there weren’t any pirate ships currently in the swamp.) He swooped down right in front of me and then flew along the road we had just joined. It was the biggest, most majestic and regal Bald Eagle I had ever seen. His wingtips nearly brushed the trees on either side of the road; his stark white tail feathers were fanned out wider than the width of my shoulders. It seemed that he was ten times the size of the Bald Eagle we had encountered the day before! (That may be an exaggeration… but I’m not sure!) Sitka went chasing after him for a moment, and I thought “No, you foolish dog! He could scoop you up easily!” He disappeared over the treetops in the distance instead.

It happened so fast and unexpectedly that I was only able to film him subsequently in flight high above, so his magnificent size is impossible to discern.

With one hand I was filming with the GoPro, and with the other I was following his flight with a pair of binoculars. The white of his head and his tail feathers glinted in the bright sunshine like polished silver! I’ve never seen anything like that!

I’m beginning to think now that what I’m encountering out near the swamp is a nesting pair. The day before we had met the younger and smaller female– a very average Bald Eagle. And now we had had the privilege of meeting her incredible mate. I guess it’s time to wander a bit through the swamp looking for their nesting sight which likely isn’t too far. There’s certainly plenty of dead snags in the swamp that would make for excellent nesting platforms. I’ll just have to be careful that Sitka doesn’t get mistaken for eagle snacks!

Prior to each of these respective encounters, we were visited by separate pairs of woodpeckers too. Since it happened both times I’m granting it some significance.

Sitka loves chasing the woodpeckers too because their swooping flight patterns bring them often close to the ground just out of tantalizing reach. The way the spectacular mature eagle began his flight was very reminiscent of Woodpecker’s characteristic swoop too.

The beat of Woodpecker’s drum signals imminent change. A whole new rhythm for life’s dance can now be expected. Additionally, the black and white colouring of Woodpecker reminds us to see things with clarity and unity. Black and white are polar opposites, but it makes no sense to merely choose one over the other, for the living being of Woodpecker must incorporate both.

These encounters are truly becoming mythic. The indomitable spirit of Earth has reawakened… and it is astonishing in its glory!