On Saturday, as Lisa and I made our way through Sevier County on our way to attend the awards ceremony for the Smoky Mountain Invitational Forensics Tournament in Gatlinburg, an amazing thing happened to us.
As we were passing through Sevierville – on our way to Pigeon Forge – we saw a very familiar site; a true American celebrity, if you will. As we crossed a bridge leading over the Little Pigeon River, near the Sevierville Greenway, we saw him. At first, I noticed him out of the corner of my eye. I alerted Lisa and said to her, “Hey, isn’t that ___.” She took a quick look and confirmed my celebrity sighting.
Flying right over our Jeep on its way back down to the water, was our national bird, a Bald Eagle. Talk about a majestic sight.
He flew from east to west (passing over our vehicle) and then moving down toward a tree overlooking the river. I feel sure he was looking for lunch. Bald Eagles are well-known fishermen (fisherbirds?).
Anyway, it was a brief glimpse but it was an amazing moment amidst the traffic and attractions that line the roadway as you pass from Sevierville to Pigeon Forge and then on to Gatlinburg.
Lisa said it was the first time she had seen our famous American symbol. I seem to remember being at a Titans game in which there was an Eagle handler and his partner that flew down to join him at midfield.
This, however, was, different. It was live. It was authentic. It was real.
Dare I say: It was awesome.
Seeing the Bald Eagle up close started me thinking about eagles in general. Of course, it is one of our great national symbols.
You can see that symbol on the back of the dollar bill closest to you.
Eagles are frequently depicted as fierce mascots. Near-by, of course, Carson-Newman University is known as the Eagles (coincidentally, Carson-Newman sponsored the tournament where the FHS students were competing).
Also, Gibbs High School’s mascot is the Eagles. Auburn has the ‘War Eagles’ and Southern Miss is ‘the Golden Eagles,’ to name a few.
In terms of the military, the 101st Airborne is known as ‘The Screaming Eagles.’
Here are some other eagle-related facts from an excellent and informative site:
- Bald Eagles are found in North America.
- The Great Seal of the United States features a bald eagle.
- The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States.
- Although their name suggests otherwise, bald eagles are not bald.
- Female bald eagles are larger than male bald eagles.
- Bald eagles eat mostly fish, swooping down to the water and catching them with their powerful talons.
- Bald eagles live for around 20 years in the wild.
- Bald eagles build very large nests, sometimes weighing as much as a ton!
- The bald eagle was added to the list of endangered species in the United States in 1967 and its numbers have recovered well since.
Our chance, random encounter with the bald eagle was brief. But, it was amazing to watch him in flight even if for just a few seconds. It was definitely one of the more memorable moments from this past weekend.
JG
Below are a couple links for more eagle facts:
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/bald-eagle/
www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/animals/baldeagle.html
(site where I got the great facts listed above).
Originally posted 2/25/2013
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