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Eagle,
At White Water Lake near Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota (USA) where I did most of my boat platform towing my partner Don Ray and I had a big concern.
There were two nesting bald eagles at the south end of the lake.
We avoided that end of the lake.
We were aware that there was a big fine for anyone disturbing nesting eagles and we didn’t want to lose the use of this lake because it was close to town and my house.
Many times just before sunset the last pilot up would fly to the center of town and land in the school yard across the street from my house.
We had a deep dread that one day a green truck with the game warden would show up and throw the pilot in cuffs and haul us off to be ground under the heave stone wheel of the law. Maybe even auction off the boat and glider.
One day I landed on the shoreline to see the green truck and the warden, dressed in green, walking in my direction.
OH BOY- HERE WE GO!
The warden told me his name and asked me a question that would definitely be used against me in a court of law.
“Sir, are you aware of the eagles nest over there on the south shore?”
(He was calling me Sir and I was wondering how long that would last.)
My dad was a bird watcher and he knew that I knew there were two nesting eagles.
I don’t care what flying site you talk about there is always something wrong with each site and the nest was what was about to be wrong with this flying site.
HERE WE GO! --”Yes Sir and we always stay away from that end of the lake, I said.
The warden said, “Lately there hasn’t been any activity at the nest and we are concerned.”
In the next few seconds I expected to see the sun glinting off of shinny hand cuffs.
The warden said, “We were wondering if we could have you fly over the nest and see if the two eaglets are still there?”
I said, “What?” Because I couldn’t believe what I thought I just heard.
The warden repeated himself and I was extremely happy to oblige.
Don towed me up and I over flew the nest to see the two eaglets craning their necks to check me out. I also saw the two adults roosting on a big tree about one hundred yards to the south of the nest.
I reported back to the warden and he thanked me profusely, jumped in his truck and took off.
The two adult eagles returned many summers to nest. They were used to us and would join us in thermals we found and we would join them in thermals that they found.
Once I went too far from the lake over the forest and wasn’t going to have anything but a tree landing until I saw one of the eagles thermaling off to my left. I went for the thermal and gained enough altitude to make it back to the lake.
