Eagle Fest!

Saturday we made the nearly 3 hour drive to Blackwater Wildlife Refuge near Cambridge for their Eagle Fest. Bill was skeptical at first, but in the end it was a really cool experience.

They had *tons* of crafts for the kids, and they each got to build their own bluebird house. And it was all FREE!

There were live bird demonstrations as well. Since it's a wildlife refuge, they rehab injured birds so we got to see UP CLOSE!! Red-tail hawks, all sort of owls, little kestrels, you name it! We were close enough to reach out and touch them. So cool!!! I guess I should add that we're bird geeks and find this sort of thing very interesting. :)

Blackwater also has two raptor cams. One on an eagle nest - two new babies hatched earlier this month!; and one on an osprey nest.

We persevered and were able to secure tickets for the Eagle Prowl bus ride tour around the refuge looking for eagles. The previous two tours had spotted 20+ and 11+ eagles. It had started to mist when our tour started and we saw only 4 or 5. BUT we did see an eagle eating a snow goose! He was parked on top of it and using his beak to tear off feathers. We could see white feathers flying off like popcorn in the wind. The guide said he has been with the park for over 20 years and has seen soemthing like that only one other time. Wow!

The best part of the whole day is that our friends A, C, and J were there. Hank and Ella were very glad to spend some time with their buddies. All I'll tell you the next time I go bird watching, I'm taking them. Talk about eagle-eyes! They were spotting birds the guide was missing. He'd whip out his binoculars and confirm their sitings. Smart kids! They're homeschooled, ya know. :)

Why no pictures?? Very sad news here...my camera broke, died, is kaput. I feel like I had an arm lopped off. Even sadder is that a new camera is SO not in the budget right now. I have to admit I really struggled with the disappointment at first. I was even tempted to just go out and buy a new one, but the added debt is the last thing we need. So while I'm sad, I trust Providence and know God will provide - perhaps wisdom for me to raise funds for a new one? perhaps He'll provide tires for dh's car and the books I need for Hank and Jake to finish the year which would free up funds for a camera? Who knows? Well, God does, that's who!