A Creek Walk with a Surprise

There's nothing that hits you more in the "feels" than a nature surprise. Something that you've never witnessed. Something that stops you in your tracks and makes you, well, just feel happy. That is what occurred back in February of 2017.

The walk started out simple enough. We were to once again traverse parts of Zaepfel that we have previously not explored. This was to be a Coldspring Creek walk starting at the south end and seeing where it led us. Most of this area you can not easily navigate when nature starts growing. The ground is marred by years of water erosion and beaver construction. You never know what may be under your next foot fall. However this did not deter us on our fateful February afternoon.

The start of the walk saw us locating an old turtle shell that was made weak by years within the water:

Shortly after was a stop for lunch (carry-in/carry-out everyone!) on a seldom seen creek bank:

After that was a continuation up this glorious creek:

And then FINALLY the pièce de résistance...the bald eagle family:

Pictures can never do them justice. There were four in total. The momma and the poppa and two yearlings. The parents had the striking "bald" head while the yearlings were still brown. They flew from one end of our vision to the other, only to circle back and fly directly over us. As they did so you could hear the unique chittering sound that they made back and forth. One could guess that they were talking to their kids about how to circle for prey and what to look for. That's my guess anyway.

We stood there transfixed to this beautiful scene. Trying hard not to move even though they undoubtedly saw us with their incredible vision. Still, all we wanted was for them to come closer. They did, and we marvelled at our luck.

The rest of the day we were just...happy.

You can see more in the video: