It should come as no surprise that Debbie and I have become very interested in the local Bald Eagles that nest about 1,000 feet from our back door. These two majestic birds and their off spring have become part of our family. We see them almost every day and we look forward to every encounter with them whether 20 seconds or 10 minutes.
I’m reading about Ben Franklins dislike of them and his preference for the Turkey. I like Turkeys all right. I have nothing against them, but I’m not inclined to agree with Franklin. He seems to be dialed in to their propensity to steal food from the Ospreys that seem to be the better fisherman. The Osprey swoops down and skillfully snatches up a fish and the Eagle watches for a second or two and then quickly overtakes the “Fish Hawk” or Osprey and forces it to yield its catch.
Yes, that’s true enough. We watched this encounter last year over a three week span and this year maybe only one or two days. So yes, the Eagle is a thief as Franklin called him, but not day after day there, at least not here at Holmes Lake. So simply put, I think Franklin was making a lot of something out of little or nothing.
I think if you dig down on this story, you will find there are more reasons why Franklin didn’t care for the Eagle as our national symbol(never officially voted on by the way). But that story is for another blog post perhaps. Just know, I’m all for keeping the Eagle up there with our national symbol, even though it has not been so ordered or ordained officially. The Eagle is on so many emblems, coins, flags and symbols, that it might as well be official.
No matter, he’s my bird. Turkeys are fine. Eagles are great. Go with the Eagle.
