After the Camp Fire in November 2018 our landscape changed, with fewer live tall trees and a shift in the bird population, adding several species I hadn’t seen here before. Our most prized new arrival is a golden eagle, seen hunting in the canyon and also perched in the burned pine tree in our lower meadow.
According to Native American tradition the golden eagle is held as sacred, representing the values of honesty, truth, majesty, strength, courage, wisdom, power and freedom.
We get strong updrafts out of the canyon over our land, and the prevailing eastern winds spin them into a rising vortex that attracts the larger birds. Many use it as an elevator to lift them to a height where they can then soar northward.
Here are three pictures of the golden eagle, including two where it is being dive-bombed by a western jay to little effect. Enjoy! 🙂
