Chased off Trail

It was a slow Saturday morning, I had been on my hike for a few hours and had not gotten any photos yet. I saw a herd of deer, but they were too deep into the woods to get any photos, and heard some birds. The coolest thing I saw was an otter playing in a pond, but it was diving down, popping up for only a few seconds at a time in a completely different part of the pond and was too quick to get any photo of. It started to feel like it was doing it just to play with me. I was on, what I thought was a loop and figured I was probably about 60-70 percent of the way through. I was starting to get a little sad that I would not get any photos on this hike. Then, as I was rounding a bend on the trail I noticed this large nest high up in the trees, almost instantly recognizing what it was.

It was clear to me that what I was seeing was a Bald Eagles nest, they make some of the largest nests I have ever seen and the size of the branches used only made me feel more confident this is what I was looking at. As I got a clearer view I noticed something perched just outside the nest and that is when I was certain this was a Bald Eagle nest. There was a Bald Eagle sitting by the nest looking over the forest to make sure nothing would disturb what was in the nest, I thought I could be sneaky and get a neat photo of the nest and the Eagle. As soon as I raised my cameras view finder to my eye the Bald Eagle snapped its neck and looked right at me, click, I got a beautiful shot (see below). Now when I saw the shot I was ecstatic, but I did not know what was to come in the next few seconds.

I do not know how the Eagle did it, but within about 10 seconds there was another Eagle flying to the nest, or so I thought. I never heard the Eagle call out, but I did hear the other one call out. Instead of checking on the nest, what it was actually doing was circling me, over and over, calling out to make itself known. Then after a minute of just the one Bald Eagle, another came for back up, and I had two Eagles swarming me (see video below). It is interesting because the Eagles call is not a very scary one, compared to say a hawk for instance, but nonetheless I was terrified. They circled me and would swoop down as low as they could. Luckily, I was hiding under some tree canopy and they could not get too close. I was genuinely paralyzed with fear, I did not know where to go. If I tried to run back the way I came there was a large opening in the overhead cover that was protecting me from the Eagles diving down to attack me. If I went past the nest, the trail ended at a river, and I would have to cross hopping and balancing from rock to rock. I had to make a choice.

Bald Eagles swarming and calling out to make themselves known

I figured that, while the trail ended at the river, surely it would pick back up on the other side and I could easily finish my hike, so I went ahead and decided that would be my best option. The river, while open, had a little more tree cover and the Eagles did not seem to be circling over there as much as if I were to turn around. When both Eagles were at my back, I darted to the river, carefully jumping from barely peaking out rocks. As I was almost to the other side I looked to see if the Bald Eagles were coming, but they stayed circling the nest, so I quickly finished the crossing and found myself back on land safely on the other side. Though I was safe, I would quickly realize I may have made the wrong choice.

As soon as I climbed up the river embankment, I could not find any sign of a trail. I looked left, right, nothing. Only trees and bushes in all directions, the trail did not pick back up, I was chased off the trail by the circling Eagles, defending their nest. I knew I could not cross the river and go back the way I came at this point, one because I was scared of the Eagles, but two because I did not want to upset them again. I am sure they were just as scared or even more scared than I was that I was there to hurt their babies in the nest. I could not bring myself to worry them anymore so I decided then that I would just have to find my way back, by walking through the woods without a path. I knew the general direction I needed to head in order to get back to my car, the only issue was that the direct route was blocked by a large lake and I would have to hike around it. I was not sure where it ended or how far I would have to walk aimlessly, but I knew this was my best option, so I began trekking through the woods.

After about 45 minutes of walking, I came across a natural dam, blocking one part of the lake from the other. The width of this damn was no more than the width of my foot but I took a chance that I would be able to cross here. After getting a better view of the size of the lake I figured that if this did not work out it would add another hour or two to my already long hike. I started down the narrow path when, on the calm side of the dam, I saw a pair of swans just enjoying themselves. I do not think they ever expected to see a human out that far in the woods because they seemed more curious than scared of me. From the far side of the lake they actually started to swim towards me once they noticed me, even posing for a photo (see below). They started about 100 yards away from me and got as close as 20 yards, but once they saw I was just trying to cross the dam, they turned back and went about their day. I guess getting pushed off trail was not the worst thing, if I got to see these beautiful birds. That was not the only thing I would come across on my detour.

Crossing the dam was the not the easiest, at one point I even had to grab some branches from the woods behind me and create a makeshift bridge so I could cross where the water was flowing from one part to the other, but I eventually made it to the other side, successfully cutting out a significant amount of time on what would have been a much, much longer hike. As I made it to the other side I had to walk for another few minutes before I randomly stumbled on a nicely groomed trail, and it was actually headed in the direction of my car, I got incredibly lucky. Just as I reached the trail, I noticed another small clearing in the woods and saw something I had never seen before on the ground. I was not quite sure what it was I was looking at but when I got a photo I knew it was a bird, but not one I had ever seen before or one I could even name. I pulled out the Merlin app on my phone and it told me that I had just got my first ever photo of a Northern Flicker (see below). A northern flicker is a woodpecker, but one I never knew about and for sure did not know they were in Minnesota. I have seen Downy’s, Hairy’s, Red-headed, Red-bellied, and Pileated Woodpeckers, but never a Northern Flicker, and it was very gorgeous and unique. I snapped a photo and as quickly as I saw it, it was gone. I did not see what direction it took off in, so the one photo would have to do. I continued on down the path I had just found and came across one last thing before making it to my car.

Northern Flicker, identified with the Merlin app

About 30 minutes from my car, there was a small pond along the path. When I came up to it, I noticed a beautiful Mallard just hanging out on a log in the middle of the pond (see below). Like the swans, this guy could not care less that I was there, he was too busy soaking up the sun and just enjoying some time by himself. I got a perfect portrait of the duck and figured I would let him be and finished up the hike not seeing anything else. I was more than pleased, because at one point on the hike I did not think I would get even one photo, then at another point I thought I was going to be completely lost for hours and hours in the woods, it turned out to be one of the best hikes of the year.

You never know what you are going to come across while exploring in nature, but if you go out enough you are bound to see some cool things. I had never come across a Bald Eagle nest before this hike, and now I know what to do if I ever do, turn and run back the way I came. That way I won’t end up on the wrong side of a river with no trail to guide me back home. I got lucky this time that I had things off in the distance that I could use as markers and keep me somewhat knowing where I was. If I was somewhere deep in the woods, or somewhere I wasn’t as familiar with, that could have been a long day. Or maybe I would’ve had to make different decisions. Either way, this time I was fine and actually got some pretty amazing photos because I was chased off the trail.

Four Owls, One Day