1/5: eagle (etc.) above

Today was a good bird day. Canadian geese and ducks were flying, as usual, between the rice fields and the lake. And, less usually, snow geese were moving through. I like them because their black-and-whiteness makes them look like they're blinking off and on as they flap and fly across the sky. I also like them because they remind me of time spent with Chris in Nebraska last year, when we saw thousands of snow geese reeling through the air. But today's most unusal sighting happened early on: while we were eating our breakfast we saw a golden eagle circling along the ridge. Bald eagles come each year, but this is the first time I've seen a golden eagle here--or, indeed, anywhere.