Daffodils in February

Up north, in Skagit county, a bunch of daffodils cut in the field and bundled with a rubber band like a bunch of asparagus, costs 99 cents. In a vase of water at home, they wait quietly until morning, and then as the sunshine hits them, they open, to be beauiful slightly fragrant yellow trumpets, more and more opening as the day grows. In the month of April, people drive up to Skagit county to see all the blooming bulbs, but in middle February, the only watchers at the flower stand were two bald eagles sitting peacably in a large bare tree next door. One of the eagles was sleek and poised; one of them was probably a nice large affable juvenile.

Well, those juveniles aren't always so affable, I guess. We drove up to a parking lot, and saw two large four-year-olds lounging in a nearby field. They moved about, got a little restless, and then one gawkily took off. As it lumbered over the fields, squawking ducks reminded each other that an eagle can eat a duck easily. These young eagles have bigger feathers and stand larger than the fully grown-up model.

We certainly saw the grown-up model. Driving the car slowly down the highway, we came near a whole gang of grownups, twelve sleek bustling bald eagles, and they even dived at the car. Imagine seeing their tail feathers so clearly I could draw them today. Certainly, if I were a duck, I'd have squawked.

When first we arrived at the huge field that snow geese had been filling last week, there was a sentinel hawk, a black red-tailed hawk, in a tall tree, a robin prancing near the the field, and an eagle way far away on a post. Later, an eagle moved onto the same tree the hawk was using. And that hawk flew over and buzzed the eagle, I think he meant to warn the eagle away. That eagle was no juvenile, easy to scare; it just waved one wing, one huge wing, like a brush-off. The hawk retired to its old perch, and after while just quietly left. Stayed awhile, to show it wasn't being scared away either. But left.

I guess, in February, the red-tailed hawk that has picked out a good spot likes to keep it. We saw one at the side of the road. It launched out, perched momentarily on a roof, whipped down and apparently picked up lunch; took its lunch back in the trees where we couldn't see it eat. But later, we returned down that same road, and there the hawk was, in his original spot, happily fed, posing on various branches. He doesn't like to have his picture taken, much, but he doesn't want to leave.

Skagit County is beautiful in February.