Preening Eagle

Spring is here, the cranes are in the Valley so we took a trip down to check things out. Not many ducks around yet, the cranes were in various areas of the Monte Vista National Wildlife refuge but most stayed way out of range.

We got lucky and spotted this mature Bald Eagle hanging out in a cottonwood tree near the Rio Grande River. Sometimes birds of prey like hawks and eagles spend a lot of time perched, waiting and watching for something to catch for a meal. Much of that time they do very little other than pose nicely. If you wait long enough behavior happens. Well, preening isn’t all that exciting but this is an eagle and it is beautiful.