This morning at 9 AM (in 23° sunshine) Bob, Jenny, and I began our three hour shift to count Bald Eagles.

The Eagle Party really started last night, as we attended a training at a TINS (Tahoe Institute for Natural Science) dinner in Incline Village.
The purpose of the Midwinter Bald Eagle survey is to monitor the status of Bald Eagle wintering populations in the contiguous United States by estimating national and regional count trends, overall and by age class. Each January, several hundred individuals count eagles along standard, non-overlapping survey routes.
It could not have been a more peaceful and beautiful time on the Lake.


Our location was the pier in the Tahoe Keys. I love this shadow of us in the clear water.
Best birders ever... literally and figuratively. They took 1st and 2nd place in the Tahoe Big Year competition.
Steve and I went to Incline early yesterday, to have lunch and play around in the thrift stores. Steve spied this awesome birding scope almost immediately. He asked Jenny if she wanted/needed it and after some deliberation, she said yes! It was only $25. We were all giddy at Steve's score.
And how many eagles did we see? Surprisingly, only one and that was seven minutes before the official start of the Count. Oh well, we helped out and had a great morning of friendship. So dang fun!