Hello everyone ... John here. Christine gave me permission to hijack her blog and share my day today with you.
Bradley, Bubba (my Dad), and I spent the day at Mason Neck State Park and the National Wildlife Refuge in Northern Virginia. Our mission - to get wood duck nesting boxes ready for this year's nesting season. About six years ago, the Pentagon-Springfield Chapter of Ducks Unlimited (DU) organized a GreenWing program for DU kids. One of our GreenWing's projects has been to build and maintain nesting boxes to give wood ducks a safe place to lay and hatch their eggs. We now have 30 boxes in the Mason Neck area. Every year we clean the boxes out, perform any necessary repairs, and put fresh bedding in them before the ducks start occupying them and laying their eggs, which usually occurs around April.
We were amazed and excited to find that sixteen of our boxes were used during last year's nesting season.
While standing knee-deep in water (with waders on, of course), I heard a very distinct "whoosh, whoosh) sound overhead. I looked up to one of the most beautiful sights ever ... a bald eagle flying right at me! He got just overhead, dropped his feet, circled over Bradley and me, and let up in a nearby tree. Bradley, my awesome 10-year-old-turned photographer, captured some amazing shots of him.
The even better part was when the eagle left the tree and, to our enjoyment, joined up with another bald eagle circling overhead. Soon a third joined them, and then a fourth! I have never seen four eagles together, and I will certainly never forget that sight!
We also saw a ton of other wildlife, including falcons, owls, swans, geese, mallards, and black ducks.
We even saw the most beautiful duck of all ... the wood duck. Can you spot him? Just look for the colorful blur.
With that viewing, we immediately realized why we woke up early and hiked for several miles while carrying bedding, a ladder, a backpack full of tools for minor repairs, while wearing waders. It was a day well spent.
