Update: This spring, a bald eagle was spotted catching a fish on Barton Pond.   In June, 2013 this bald eagle was photographed on a canoe trip from Baseline Lake to the Dexter-Huron Metropark.

Last year my wife saw a Bald Eagle fly north over the cornfield across from our place on Sutton Road.  Bald Eagles have been spotted three times in the southwest corner of the township.

Meanwhile, earlier this spring on Northfield Township's eastern border, a Bald Eagle was found fatally shot in Salem Township.  Late last year another Bald Eagle was found shot in Marion Township, on the northwest border of our neighbor, Hamburg Township.

This webpage tracks Bald Eagle sightings in Michigan.  If you've sighted an eagle, please mention it in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

Another large raptor, the Osprey, has been reintroduced to the Huron River.  This is the 2014 report of an Osprey tracking organization , with photos and nest locations.  There is at least one identified nest here in Northfield Township and I saw one June 9th flying over the Whitmore Lake Tavern.

What got me wondering about eagles was photographing apple blossums in my orchard.  I wanted a record of when each variety flowered.  The blossums varied in appearance, inspiring vague speculations about whether differences in coloring and patterning of mature apples mirrored differences between the blossums of the apple varieties.  Anyway, I was standing in a field holding a camera.  It had a telephoto lens already attached.  From behind me I heard the unmistakeable sound of a pair of Sandhill Cranes announcing their flight.  They flew directly overhead.  I aimed the camera.  I tried to locate them in the viewfinder.  I could not.  They were too fast or I was too slow.  Then they were past the treeline.  This reminded me of the bald eagle that my wife saw flying north over the neighbor's cornfield last year.  When that happened I didn't have a camera; I didn't even have my glasses.  I ran into the house for binoculars.  When I returned, the eagle was out of sight.  But one of you may have been quicker or luckier.  So...

 If you have a photo of local eagles and wouldn't mind sharing it with your neighbors, please send it to me, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Fortunately, apple trees can't fly:

Winter Banana 5-8 p1crop350w

Winter Banana

 

Cox Orange Pippin 5-8 p1crop350W

Cox Orange Pippin

Winter Banana 5-8 p1crop350w

 

 

Honeycrisp 5-8 p2350w

Honeycrisp

Wild Apple 5-9 p3crop350w

Wild Apple with a visiting honeybee

Gala 5-8 p3crop350w 

Gala

Redbud 5-9 p24crop350w

Redbud flowers with another of my neighbor's honeybees

Macfree 5-8 p2crop350w

Macfree

PawPaw Flowers 5-9 p4crop350w

PawPaw flowers