The return of bald eagles keeps catching our eyes, Chicago to the hinterlands

Sue McNichols had her eagle eyes Saturday.

‘‘These are not the greatest pictures, but it sure is interesting seeing an eagle on the street in Oak Lawn ... on 93rd St., just west of Central,’’ she emailed. ‘‘He flew off before I was able to run outside and get a better angle. It looked like he had a mouse or rat in his beak.’’

The magic of bald eagles keeps going, even though they are now more common in all areas, rural to urban. It’s especially magical for those of us who remember as kids when eagles fluttered on the brink of extinction.

Last week, it really struck home.

On Saturday, on the way to deliver groceries in Trumbull Park for the Center for Food Equity in Medicine, I had a bald eagle fly right in front of me on South Torrence Avenue, not far from Big Marsh Park.

That made four bald eagles for me in four days.

The area around Big Marsh Park has held a stunning number of eagles for decades. I still remember watching the first modern eagles to nest in Chicago along the Calumet about 20 years ago.

The Chicago Park District last week noted that Big Marsh Park had a high count of 12 eagles in a day in 2018. This year, staff regularly are seeing six.

An eagle is a simple thing, but it made my day.

Dale Bowman

On Thursday, I traipsed through the wilds of northern Iroquois County while headed to my annual refresher course on storm-spotting. The class in Watseka was the one that fit my schedule (fellow weather buffs understand you go where you have to go), so I made the drive.

On a back road, I spotted two mature bald eagles feasting on a road-killed raccoon. They were so intent that one even let me back the car up to get a better photo of it on the bank of the road.

Spotter trainings around the Chicago area are at weather.gov/lot/spotter_talk.

My flurry of bald-eagle sightings started last Wednesday with a mature one feeding on what I assume was road kill in field stubble near I-57 and Bourbonnais Parkway.

It was such a surprise that it didn’t register until I had driven 100 yards past.

Wild things

I finally had my first cardinals singing over the weekend.

Stray cast

Is being more interested in a Sox ballpark than in Sox spring training like preferring a fishing show to organizing my fishing gear in our basement?