Bald Eagles at the Sacramento National WIldlife Refuge

We've never had a disappointing trip to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge between Williams and Willows in California's Great Valley. We usually make it there during our trips north at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we sometimes drop in during the summer if we are traveling that way.

There was a lot going on when we came through at the end of December. I literally was stepping out of the car at the visitor center parking lot when someone pointed out the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) sitting in the eucalyptus trees a few yards away. We saw four more of them along the six mile auto-tour route, two adults and two juveniles.

I know that folks farther north don't get quite as excited at seeing this interesting bird since they are more common up north, but I've only seen a couple of them in our region, so this is more of an event for me. I read interesting accounts of the hundreds of eagles that pester fisherman and residents of fishing villages in Alaska.

Still, these thieving lazy birds (by some accounts, including Benjamin Franklin) are interesting to watch. They do have that certain bearing...