Bald Eagles Wintering Along Grand River

This bald eagle has been wintering along the Grand River in Cambridge, Ontario. At one time bald eagles were in abundance along the Grand, but then they died out. Some blamed the pesticide DDT, and that's possible because DDT caused the shells of bird eggs to become thin. Birds that were affected include eagles, falcons, hawks, osprey and pelicans.

This past weekend, there was a piece in the newspaper about eagles. It seems that one of the trails here had to be closed temporarily to protect bald eagles that are in the area. Trail users have been asked to avoid the area in hopes that the eagles will have a productive nesting season. Eagles are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Well, it seems the eagles are back from the brink. This article explains that in the early 1900s, there were two hundred pairs of eagles nesting in Ontario between Ottawa and the Lower Great Lakes. During the 1950s, we used to see the odd one gliding the air currents, but they were a rare site. By the 1970s, the eagles of the area weren't producing any young. This is when the DDT theory came to light, for it was a common pesticide for farmers during the 50s and 60s.

I've seen bald eagles along the river for a few years now, especially south of Brantford, Ontario on the Six Nations Reservation. A few weeks ago, I saw one west of Brantford right along the Grand River in a trail area.

The trail that is temporarily closed in our area will remain so until June, in hopes that the eagles will nest and produce young. I'm hoping this is the case. It would be wonderful to see more eagles gliding over southern Ontario.


In other news, I've been writing web content and working on my children's writing course. When I posted a few days ago, I was having trouble getting the story for the second assignment to flow together. Well, I now have my first draft done, but it still needs a lot of work. It is a story based on historical fact. I've got a month to work on it and I figure that in two weeks, it should be polished to send to my tutor. Before that time, it will be rewritten several times, tightened to make it the right word count and then polished to shine. Here's hoping that I can get it right.

Food for thought. As a writer, I never thought much about whether I should be called an author or a writer. It was just something that never crossed my mind.

On Saturday, the boys and I went to get our haircut. We were talking about a story that Jordan suggested I write. The idea is great. It's just putting it together. So, Brandon asked me, "Grandma, are you a writer or an author?"

I thought for a minute and said, "I guess I'm both."

It's hard to know what Brandon is thinking at times, but he asked, "Have you ever had anything published in a book?"

"I've had lots of short stories published in anthologies," I told him.

"Then you're both," he exclaimed. "I didn't know you were an author. I thought you were a writer because you write web content."

"You're a real live author?" Jordan asked. "I never thought I'd ever know a real live author. And you're my grandmother. Wow!"

I laughed. The boys know that I write for websites and to Brandon that meant I was a writer. To him, an author is someone who has their work published in a book. So if you didn't know the difference between an author and a writer, now you do.

These boys bring so much joy into my life. Their questions and the way they look at life is so unique and so much different than I did when I was young. They are being brought up in a different world and it certainly shows. At 13, which is Brandon's age, I loved to write and my dream was to become a published author. Back then I would have assumed that an author and a writer were the same thing, but I can see Brandon's point. The Internet has made a difference in the way kids view the world. I found this rather enlightening.

Hope you all have a wonderful week. Please remember to do a random act of kindness. Even a smile can make a difference in the life of someone who is a little down on their luck. Be gentle. Be kind. ~Blessings, Mary~