Eagle counting

If you want to feel like a 19th Century gentleman naturalist, come along on one of the eagle counts held on the lower Wisconsin River during the winter months. We went with fellow bookies Sherry & Doug (who are "in charge" of the group counting the Lone Rock roost), Caroline & Frank, and Margie & Dave. On some Sundays we have seen as many as 97 eagles in the two-hour, pre-sunset counting period. This time because the river was frozen, the eagles landed elsewhere, so we saw about a dozen. But the weather was (relatively) warm, the sunset beautiful and the company great. And, in some small way, we are contributing to a long-term study of eagle behavior on the river. Makes you feel warm on the inside, even when you're cold on the outside.