It's Eagle Awareness Time!

In our area this was "Eagle Awareness Weekend".

This afternoon Gary and I headed to David's Trail to check on the eagle's nest.

Last year I did a few "eagle posts" from photos taken there.

(My first eagle post can be viewed HERE,

 and has a view of the eagle's nest.)

...But although the nest was still in tact, we didn't spot any eagles around it.

Earlier this weekend I did spot two bald eagles in Searcy County.

One was flying too high to capture on camera.

The other one was spotted while we were driving near the Buffalo National River,

but I couldn't get my camera out quickly enough to capture it!

I'm not sure when the eagles start nesting.

I think it was in March last year when I first spotted some babies in the nest,

so they must start sometime soon!

(To see that post, click HERE.) 

I love the picture God gives of Himself in Exodus 19:4,

when He says "I carried you on eagle's wings, and brought you to Myself".

I know several of us that have had to be carried by God this last week!

How about you?

For my Names of God on Rocks post this week, click HERE.

There ARE two eaglets!

A good friend told me she thought there were two eaglets in the nest by David's Trail,
I had not been fortunate to see both of them on any of my prior trips.

Last time I went, the momma and the daddy eagle were sitting in trees
not far from the nest,
but this time they were nowhere to be seen.
The juvenile had grown since last visit,
but his coloring was still strikingly different from his parents.
 

He was much braver than before and tottered at the edge of the nest.
When he stretched out his wings, I thought I saw the head of another eaglet.
I waited and waited, hoping for a chance to verify this... 

...and then,
just as I got in my Jeep to drive away,
TA-DA!!!
I saw the other eaglet!
He does exist!
(To see how much they have grown,
click on this LINK to see an earlier post.)

If they could talk, 

I could only imagine the conversation that went on between the two of them.

"I'm hungry!"

"When do you think the parents will get back with some food?"

"Do you think they just left us here 

and expect us to catch our own food now?"

I think God must love eagles.

He mentions them quite frequently in the Bible.

 "You know how I carried you on eagles' wings 

and brought you to myself." 

Exodus 19:4

Do you ever picture God with wings?

The Psalmist said,

"He will cover you with his feathers. 

He will shelter you with his wings."

This verse has been a comfort to me many times,

especially after we were in a car accident 18 years ago,

and I felt like God or His angel held me and protected me from danger.

To see other beautiful winged creatures,

why not click HERE to take you to Stewart's Wild Bird Blog Hop!

To see my latest post of Hebrew Names of God on Rocks,

click HERE!

Zig-Zag... and back track!

This weekend my husband and I made a return trip to David's Trail.
This time we took a different path -
one that went zig-zagging up and down the hills surrounding the lake.
 

This time we took our granddaughter with us.

As we walked along we enjoyed
the remaining wonderful splashes of color.

 

 

 

Then it happened!
There it was right in the middle of the trail -
some "scat",
more commonly known as bear poop.
The persimmon seeds gave away the animal's identity.
Gary said it looked like "cub size" scat.
Poking it with a stick, we found it was still VERY soft,
which meant the cub might not be far away.

 

 

Living up to his reputation as a protector of his family,
my husband quickly urged us to quit following the zig-zag trail,
and make a U-turn back to our vehicle ---
just in case the cub AND ITS MOTHER were still nearby.

 

As I was discussing what happened with our youngest daughter,

she said the way her daddy always tried to protect us from danger

reminded her of Jesus, our Good Shepherd, and our Guide.

(Click on colored links above to see corresponding posts on Rock4Today.)



In case you're wondering,

no - I haven't got my camera fixed yet.

I had to resort to my little "click and shoot" Nikon.

Yesterday...

 

 

Yesterday, my husband took me for a beautiful fall walk

on David's Trail which runs along the shores of Norfork Lake.



It was a perfect day to check it out.

Gary led the way,

and I followed with the camera.
The fall foliage was exquisite.

At times the lake was in sight.
...And most of the time,
so was my husband.

He discovered the labeling posted on various trees.

One of my favorites was the black jack oak,
so brilliant in its fall foliage. 
My husband agreed with the statement on the label
which stated the tree had very hard wood,
and told me that he had dulled many chain saws
while cutting this kind of tree.
 

Evidence of claw and scratch marks
seemed to indicate that a squirrel had enlarged this hole
to store his winter stash of food.
I think this was a white oak tree.

It was while I was attempting to get a good capture
of these dogwood leaves and berries that I had a little misfortune. 
 When I got off the trail to take the picture,
I failed to see a tree root or stump that was covered with leaves.
Before I knew it, I fell, and was face down on the ground!

Not injured badly, I quickly jumped up and hurried
to catch up with my husband.
Cleaning the dust off my camera,
and explaining about my sudden fall,
I then attempted to take a photo.
The auto adjustment wouldn't work...
 



The manual lens adjustment would allow me to
bring things into focus,
but was stiff and hard to turn.

I was glad we were near the end of our hike,
and thankful that I wasn't hurt badly by the fall.
My camera will have to be restored,
or a new lens purchased.

As I lay in bed thinking about this,
a verse from 1 Corinthians 10:12 came to my mind.
"So, if you think you are standing firm,
be careful that you don't fall!"


 

My mind was so intent on taking great photos,

that I got off the trail,

and lost sight of where my real focus should have been!

 

I think you get the picture.

 

May yesterday's mistakes keep me from falling today!

 

 

To hop on over to God's Names on Rocks, click on ROCK4TODAY!