Stop the car! STOP THE CAR!!!!!!

When you are driving with a birder in the passenger seat, these are the three words you must be prepared at all times to hear, even on the highway!

On a weekend trip to Caribou, Maine, a four hour drive, a very large bird flew in the air space in front of the car. I, of course, was sitting in the backseat, engrossed in an audio book and working on a flying geese quilt. All of a sudden, we pulled over and stopped. My first clue was the da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da noise from the rumble strips at the edge of the road, then the abrupt application of the brakes. My brother-in-law already had binoculars in hand and jumped out practically before we had stopped.

Fortunately there isn't much traffic on the way to Caribou, Maine.

I fumbled in my bag for my binocs, tangled in my camera strap, and jumped out just in time to get a very good look at a very rare treat.....a GOLDEN EAGLE, riding the thermals and making his way across the horizon.

The Golden Eagle is a bird from the West, most commonly associated with the mountains. In the sky, can first be mistaken for a Turkey Vulture as unlike the Bald Eagle, it has a V-shape to it's wing spread, and that's exactly what the front seat occupants initially thought they had in their sight. But as it soared closer, Don let out "the call".

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Check out the size of this bird!!

Although not a lifer for me, it was still very exciting and the best view I've ever had. I DID add a lifer that very same evening, however. There was a large flock of seagulls in the old potato fields near Don's parent's home. He scanned the crowd and found not one, but two Lesser Black-backed gulls! They are a European bird whose winter numbers are increasing along our eastern coast.

I must mention we stopped once upon our approach to Caribou to scan a pond known for breeding Ruddy Ducks, and sure enough, there they were, along with one pair of Redhead Ducks and a flock of Ring-necks. I believe the Redhead is a life bird for me, as well, but I, of course, left my life list in Cape Breton.

The following morning I spotted 2 Snipe along the forested edge of a pool behind the old homestead.

Birds, birds, everywhere!!!! I'm so glad it's spring.