What is that man doing ?

Boy that seems like an unusual parking spot out in that field.  And look at that man wandering around throwing things from a big white bucket.

Good grief, they're dead chickens !

Why on Earth was he doing that ?

As I watched, a couple of crows and seagulls swooped down curiously over the field.  For a few minutes they had the field to themselves but seemed hesitant to approach the white carcasses scattered across the field.  They would hop across the field eager for a free meal but mindful of who or what was behind them in the "buffet line".

And it wasn't long before they did have company, as numerous bald eagles swooped down to enjoy the free lunch.

The crows and seagulls were amazingly cheeky ... but not stupid.  They would linger near to the feeding eagles but were careful to keep their distance.

I've been to Eagle Watch before; actually I'm trying to figure out if today was my fourth or fifth visit.  What I can tell you is that it was my most interesting visit.  This is the first time I saw the eagles feeding.  You can see my post about one of my previous visits and a bit of background on Eagle Watch here.

Here's a video link to today's visit.

Wonders alive and long dead

One day during Sandy's visit we made a mandatory visit to the Bay of Fundy.

On our way there we stopped at Sheffield Mills to see an Eagle or two ...  or twenty or thirty.

It is wonderful to stand under a tree and look up and see Eagles perched above us..

Yup.  There's Eagles in them thar trees.

I couldn't believe that I'd never dragged taken Sandy to Blue Beach before.  

So I rectified that.

Blue Beach, on the Bay of Fundy,  is a fabulous place for fossil hunters.  You can't take a step without tripping over fossils.  Unlike the more famous Joggins Fossil Cliffs, which is a World famous UNESCO site, Blue Beach is relatively unknown and (tah dah) free.

Oh and there were icicles; an entire cliff covered in icicles.

The scenery in the area is beautiful.  Even the "biffy" is beautiful !

The path from the parking lot to the beach was beautiful.

To add to our fun there was an Earth Cache at the beach.   The challenge of the Earth Cache was to find a fossil and take a photo of your GPS with the fossil.

Sandy poses with the fossil find and GPS.

We marvelled at the pans of ice floating by on the incoming tide...

... and wished that the darn tide would stop coming in so we could linger a while longer.

The definition of insanity ...

According to Albert Einstein, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Today I drove to the Eagle Watch in Sheffield Mills for the second time.

My previous visit which had been a disappointing experience, had been in January of 2010.

Eagles first started visiting the area in the winter months, to feed on shellfish found along the Bay of Fundy mud flats.  Kings County is home to 90% of the poultry producers in Nova Scotia, and local farmers started to supplement the eagle's diet by throwing chicken scraps out for them.

Over two weekends in late January and Early February visitors flock to the area to watch the eagles feeding.

See the eagle ?

Photographers were certainly flocking to the area, but sadly the eagles weren't.
 

A couple of eagles hung out in distant tree at the far end of this field.

The "Watchers" stood at one end of the field, stomping from foot to foot, trying to stay warm as we stared at a  pile of dead chickens mounded mid-field.

We watched in frustration as some idiot woman walked her dog around the perimeter of the field, thus ensuring that no self-respecting eagle would venture near.

I've seen eagles on my explorations of this marvellous province, but was tempted back to Eagle Watch by the lure of multiple, nay "scads" of eagles.  

Didn't happen.

So, do I go back next year for a third time ?

What would Einstein say if I did ?