THE BALD EAGLES

      Above - That has to be the cutest critter on four legs.

I was wrapping up the day on Monday and just sitting on the sofa talking to the girls when I noticed I had a chill.  This doesn't usually happen to me so I didn't think much of it.  By 7:30 PM I couldn't stay warm no matter what I did and a sudden tiredness overcame me.  The heavy blankets were pulled out of the closets and tossed onto the bed and I was under them.  Happy was very welcome under the blankets and generated a lot of needed warmth and Chestnut hound was enticed to lay closer and further up my back between my shoulders.  Perfect.  I don't think I ever reached a point where a full sleep condition occurred because of the chill that even my little dog friends could not ward off.  Tuesday morning came and went and the cell phone went off at noon.  The welder had my boat done over in Knoxville.  I told him I'd be over to get it.  What a miserable trip.  When I got the boat home I just shut off the truck, went into the house and got back into bed.  Finally Wednesday morning is here and I still am feeling very down and in slow mode but I thought I'd give my state duties a try.   So, off I went for the river.  The sick feelings are gone it seems and all that's left is tiredness and a lack of appetite.  I didn't put a full morning in today but I was able to grab a few neat photos.  Hope you enjoy them.

They never seem to cooperate and the sky is never that deep, rich blue that accents eagle pictures so well.  Now, turn around and say hi.

I wish he were turned a bit more toward me but I have to take what he will give.  This is a male bald eagle and I know this because I am very familiar with this pair, as you probably are too.  They're the eagles in the deep nest down by the Holston River.  The male is always slightly smaller than the female, but then you already knew that.

These would be premier pictures if the sky were deep blue.  All that light gray causes the light meter to compensate for the brightness and renders the image a bit darker than I'd like.  But, he's not bad.

He was off and heading straight for his nest.  He can't fool me.

There's a lot of big limbs around the nest to deal with when trying to get good, clear shots of eagles.
The important thing here is that there are two eagles.  All my previous shots of this nest only showed one bird.  I said the nest is very deep and they can remain out of the line of sight and here's proof.

 You can see them both in the nest.  Mom is ducking down a bit.  Some folks who live near this nest do not believe that a pair of eagles reside here.   They only ever see one.  They also say they've never seen offspring occur at this nest.  I think I can prove them wrong about that point.  We'll see.