Empty Nest Syndrome

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A mature bald eagle, or two, has been frequenting Cambridge-Narrows ever since the deer, that couldn't fly, jumped off the bridge in March. In mid-August an immature bald eagle started showing its beak around the neighbourhood. Yesterday it landed in the pine tree next door and I just happened to have my camera cocked and loaded.

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It's pretty hard to sneak up on an eagle because their vision is so acute that they can see you coming one-point-six kilometres away. This guy spotted me instantly but I had a few seconds while he considered his options: fight or flight. I grabbed a few frames before he chose flight, thankfully. I've done battle with ducks and chickadees, so I hardly wanted to mess with ten pounds of talons.

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He's flying quite well. In fact, he's soaring like a pro. Has mother nature sent me, or Julian, a sign? Earlier in the summer we had six golden-eye ducks leave the nest in our oak tree. It looked like a scary leap from the comfort of the nest at first, but they managed. It seems that the young ones do well when they leave the nest. It's the way of nature. But what of the parents?

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I've had people predict that I'll suffer from empty nest syndrome. I doubt it. My Vulcan genes don't allow for much emotion, but I'm half human so it is possible (my mom was from Earth, and also down to it). We'll see how things go when I finally put my foot in the small of junior's back and give him the big heave ho from the nest in twenty-six hours.

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What do you think? Will I be crying in my locally grown, organic oatmeal every morning while my son is boldly going on his four year mission to where no Varty has gone before? No, I'll be sitting in front of the computer doing what I always do, writing my blog.