The Fountain Hills Eagle

The fountain that shoots up out of Fountain Hills Lake in Fountain Hills, Arizona is the tallest fountain in the world.  It is quite the tourist attraction, and the fountain can be seen from miles away.  Recently, I went to Fountain Hills Lake for some birding and the main goal was to see Hooded Mergansers.  The mergansers are very reliable at the lake, and it is one of the best places to observe them in wintering numbers in Maricopa County.  When I went there, it didn't take me long to find the mergansers.  They were part of a goal I've been chasing, and I'll talk more about that on a later post.  I decided to walk around the lake when I got there because it's a nice walk.  When I was at the southern side of the lake, I looked up to see a Bald Eagle flying in at a very close distance.  It happened very fast, and had I had seen it sooner, I would've been able to obtain some very close flight shots.  It kept going past me and then went up to a pine tree to perch.  The tree that the Bald Eagle was sitting on was right along the walking path and edge of the lake.  Fountain Hills Lake is always crowded mid-day, the time when I was there.  The eagle created an immediate stir among the people recreating at the lake.  Adults and children both crowded under the pine tree that harbored America's iconic bird, and people were getting a huge thrill out of the eagle.  I joined in with the crowd and was pleased with how close the bird was, and the fact that it was in the middle of this public park-setting was awesome to me too.  The bird didn't seem to mind people, or perhaps it's perch was just high enough for preferred comfort level.  What was awesome to me was how long the bird stayed.  When a new hour reached the lake, the world's tallest fountain shot up for about ten to fifteen minutes on it's hourly schedule.  I realized that it was an awesome scene, a Bald Eagle to go along with "The Fountain".  In the next ten minutes, I ran around to different viewpoints to photograph the scene at Fountain Hills Lake to show that not only people enjoy iconic landmarks too.  Whether the eagle really enjoys a big fountain or not, this was something I am thankful to have seen and photographed.  I won't continue writing, but here is a selection of thirty photographs that I took of the Bald Eagle at Fountain Hills Lake..