Dan Antion

Hi Mom I’m Home – #1LinerWeds

A few weeks ago, we celebrated Father’s Day here in the US. Our daughter Faith took me to breakfast and then we walked a portion of the Windsor Locks Canal. Round trip, it looks like we covered 5 mi (8 km).  On the way up and back, we passed an eagle nest. It’s the only one on the canal that we know about, and it routinely keeps the lower half of the canal – the half we like to walk – closed until the eaglets fledge. This year, there were no eaglets, so the trail opened in April – it’s always closed from November until April to give the eagles some space.

We have seen the adult eagles before, sometimes one, occasionally two. This time, we saw three (what appear to be) adult eagles. According to my extremely limited investigation, three eagles sharing a nest is rare, especially if two are male. Sorry, I don’t know how to tell if an eagle is male or female, but males are supposed to be territorial.

I’ve never seen this before.

Faith and I joked about a couple alternate explanations. We considered a Father’s Day visit from one of the permanent couple’s previous broods. And:

“Hi mom, dad, I’ve hit a rough patch and I was wondering if I could move back in for a while?”

Parents are always willing to help.

This post is part of Linda G. Hill’s fun weekly series One-Liner Wednesday. If you have a one-liner, or if you would like to join in on the fun, you can follow this link to participate and to see the one-liners from the other participants.

On our way up, we saw this guy sitting well outside the nest.
One eagle in the nest on the way up
It looks like they’ve added a self-guided tour. It’s probably run out of the north end parking area.
Quiet day on the canal. Sunny, but reasonably cool.
This is the recently added memorial to the Irish workers who dug the canal.
New sign
I love the reflections we see in the canal.
We have a similar photo from many years before.
Under the aqueduct, Stony Brook drains into the Connecticut River.
Turtles, coming out to rest in the sun.
Wild flowers line the canal path
That trestle spans the canal. If you look close, you can see the block character logo of the New Haven Railroad – that’s a CT Rail train.
CT Rail – The Hartford Line – Being pulled by an AMTRAK loco across the trestle across the Connecticut River.
The Connecticut River is on the east side of the canal path.
The canal is on the west side of the canal path.
Spotted and captured for Rivergirl.
The Connecticut River


If you like magical realism with suspense, action and a bit of family sarcasm, you will enjoy these books:

Knuckleheads
The Evil You Choose
When Evil Chooses You

Series page on Amazon

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All available on Kindle Unlimited!

77 comments

  4. Very nice selfie on a lovely Father’s Day adventure. If inflation continues at the current rate, I think more parents are going to hear ‘Mom, Dad, I’m home.’ :-) I’ve sat here with the cursor blinking as a result of the memorial to the Irish laborers. I think I’ll do us all a favor and just say it is a nice memorial to one of the many groups who worked extremely hard to help settle this nation. Hope the book sales are going well. :-)

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    • Thanks Judy. The memorial was long overdue, but it’s good to see. I think it will be a permanent stop when we walk/bike the canal. Like the eagles, the aqueduct and the train trestle. Book sales have slowed. I stopped promoting after the book launch. I guess I need to start putting the word out there again. Still, I have other things to share, and I don’t want to beat you guys over the head with it. Today was for the eagles.

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  6. The thing that always strikes me about eagle nests is the size. They’re flipping huge! Probably just in case junior moves back home. Great pic of you and your daughter.
    And the bunny of course.
    🐰

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  7. Hahaha, I had some ideas too about three eagles in that nest! I’m going with “I’m home!” You and Faith had a great tour on a beautiful and special day. Doesn’t get better than that. Nice selfie.

    Love the turtles sunning themselves. Turtles fascinate me. The trail provides a beautiful walk.

    The Memorial, for me, is disappointing and disturbing. But I’m glad you showed it. These laborers and their families certainly deserve to be recognized, but I wish someone else had been in charge of the wording!
    Ginger

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    • The three eagles did give the opportunity for many thoughts, Ginger. These we saw fit to publish. I love seeing the turtles. I’ve seen as many as a dozen of them lines up on those tree limbs.

      It took so long to get that memorial approved, agreed to and installed. I don’t know why it took so long, and I don’t know what committee was in charge. I like that it’s there, and we will stop and pay our respects in the future as we walk by. These workers deserve to be remembered.

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  14. That was a lovely day for you and Faith, Dan, and it’s never a bad thing to see eagles, even if there are three. Perhaps that is a good luck sighting or, as you said, buddy eagle was having a hard time out in the real world. We thought we saw eagles soaring as we were biking, but they turned out to be turkey vultures. Thankfully, we were not the object of their attention.

    I love the photos, especially the one of you and Faith, and glad you have such a beautiful local trail to enjoy.

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    • I hope the vultures weren’t expecting to make a meal of you guys.

      It was a great day. We’ve been walking and biking that trail since she was a little girl. Before it was a State Park and even reasonably well maintained.

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  18. Love this post… it is very similar to posts by another author favorite of mine, Wendy Mitchell, who’s written a couple of books on Alzheimer’s. She posts on her blog, “Which me am I today?” https://whichmeamitoday.wordpress.com/2022/07/06/at-last-its-paradise-time-again/ I love that you share photos of your world. Just beautiful–btw, Wendy also has a turtle that she captures in her photos (and a bunny rabbit or two)! Love it… Thanks!

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  20. That made me chuckle! I love your pictures, especially the ones with the turtles. There is an osprey nest in Maine that has a live stream to it. Over the years I’ve been able to watch many pairs and their chicks. It has been brilliant. There are probably a few eagles nest around that have cameras on…

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    • They had a camera on this nest for a while. Then the nest was destroyed and the eagles moved downstream a bit. This one is easier to see from the ground. I like knowing that they are there.

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  25. Ha! I like your suppositions. About two weeks ago Bella and Bello, the falcons were bringing an unknown additional female to eat. If you’d ever met “Junior” you might think the new female might be his nanny. Even I would need a break from that one. I love the photos, especially the one of you and Faith. She’s so cute. ❤️

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  27. Great summer views, Dan. I don’t know if you will hear the request to move back in from you daughter, she seems a staunch independent one:) The turtles are cute – the small lake nearby, has about five – now if one day I would not forget my camera….!

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  29. Your explanation makes sense. If an adult child has returned to the nest, they may have decided to skip the egg laying for this year. It’s good that the community cares about them.

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  30. Always great to spend time with your adult children. I never take these visits for granted. We have one of those bald eagle cams near our bay, but wisely they keep the exact location a secret.

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  31. Hi Dan – makes sense to close the path to protect the eagles … but it looks to be a wonderful walking/cycling trail. Love the photo of you two … fun – by the way is Faith thinking of coming back home?!!!! I doubt it – but a thought the eagles could discuss!! Cheers Hilary

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  32. Sounds like a perfect Father’s Day. Lovely photographs of the eagles and of you and your beautiful daughter. It’s nice to know the area is cordoned off to give them space. Enjoyed the one-liner too! :)

    Liked by 1 person

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