During my trip to Williston last week, I saw my first bald eagle in the wild. Awesome! Our one week vacation is why I’ve not been posting much. Have lots of posts planned and a few hundred new photos.
We were driving on a road about 13 miles north and 8 miles west of Williston taking pictures of wells and abandoned farm houses (yes, now that you mention it, I do in fact have some weird pastimes while on vacation).
I was surprised when a large bird took flight about 20 or 30 feet off the side of the road about 30 or 40 feet ahead of us. As it flew away to our front I realized how big it was and as it turned the white tail feathers and a white head showed.
A bald eagle! Of course it flew faster than I could get my camera ready so I have no pictures. The photo above is a stock photo.
It shortly flew out of sight.
Well, we went as far as I wanted on that road so we doubled back to get photos of some huge multi-well pads from a different angle.
Imagine my surprise when I spooked the eagle again in the same spot!
I was fast on my camera this time but he quickly flew higher than I could get my camera to focus so again I got no pics. Got out of the car waiting for him to circle back but he didn’t. (Those knowledgeable about wild animals can laugh at me for thinking an eagle would get within a thousand yards of a stopped car that startled him.)
It was a thrill to watch him soaring. What a huge wingspan. What a remarkable bird in being able to fly so long with so few flaps of his wings.
Be careful eagle!
I do so hope that majestic bird and his partner plan to hang out in that immediate area for a long time. There is a large wind farm planned near Tioga, which is about 40 miles east and three miles north of where I saw the eagle.
Owner of those 75 slice-and-dicers spread over 20 square miles will never, ever be prosecuted for killing eagles and won’t do anything to mitigate the risk of offing eagles, so I hope the big guy I saw stays far, far away from Tioga.