Golden Moments

Last weekend Charlie and I drove down to Oneonta to the Franklin Mountain Audubon Sanctuary where they hold an annual migratory raptor count. November is prime time for migrating golden eagles. It's such a gamble as to whether you'll actually see goldens. Some days there may be 1 or 2, the next day 25, and the next day maybe none. A record 46 goldens had been recorded the previous day due to favorable winds. This day the winds had shifted to the south - not a good direction for migrating. We arrived at about 11:15 and by noon had seen 6 goldens! I was ecstatic! I know the photos are pretty fuzzy. The golden was not visible to the naked eye and even with the camera it was difficult to tell what kind of bird I was looking at. I'm just excited to have any kind of discernable photo to commemorate my first golden sighting. In between watching the raptors, I captured some visitors to the suet feeder. Sorry we didn't manage to connect, Max. Hope you've had as much luck on your visits to the mountain.