Today's Walk

....took us to Great Falls Park again. I haven't been out walking as much as I would have liked lately, because my back still isn't a hundred percent and whenever I started feeling better I did stupid things like yardwork to mess it up again.  This morning I did feel well enough to grab the dogs for an outing. For the first time in a long time we walked the trails leading towards River Bend Park, which is upriver from Great Falls. The dogs had a great time sniffing and exploring and the temperature was perfect - just a little bit below 40 F. Up the hill we went  on a path that lead away from the river, but was accompanied by a small creek which made it a nice change to the raging river. Once we reached the top, we continued walking towards Riverbend turning into a trail across the woods and back towards the Potomac.

Tessa was being a totally silly goose bouncing around like a puppy dog and throwing big wooden sticks through the air, which in turn didn't make her the most popular doggie companion in the Budelheimer's view. The went into hiding behind my back for me to be the lucky one who got hit by sticks the size of a medium tree.

For some miraculous reason they did survive Tessa's silly attacks and when we got to the top of the ridge we took a little break to enjoy the view below us, where the Potomac raced along in breathtaking speed. As I was sitting there taking it all in, I all in a sudden noticed a bald eagle soaring above us. What an exciting view ! I've been walking at this park for about 20 years now and at least a couple of times a week, but had never ever seen one of these majestic raptors. Oh wow ! I was so excited that I immediately had to call Rui and my friend Baerbel to tell them about my observation. Later I found out that there had been a bald eagle sighting earlier this spring and they were even seen building a nest on one of the small islands in the river. Unfortunately, the nest was destroyed and the pair hadn't been seen since.  Now it is all the more exciting to see that they have returned and are probably rebuilding their nesting site. I am thrilled ! By the way - if you want to observe nesting bald eagles, go to the website of the Norfolk Botanical Gardens and check out their eagle cam - it's really worth taking a look: http://www.wvec.com/marketplace/microsite-content/eagle-cam.html
Another great link will lead you to the site of a great photographer, who took the most amazing pictures of this bald eagle pair: http://shutterbugbob.smugmug.com/Nature/NBG-Eagles-2011-Season/15473069_fqnUQ#1177637716_gyAQa

As far as my photographic skills go: There are none today, because I left the cam at home. Not even the pocket cam got to come along. That's why I saw all these neat things today........ Happens to me all the time. Oh well - it felt good to be out in nature again ! I definitely could not be without !