It was a pretty weekend, and Dad had it in mind that we would have outings – my Mother’s Day celebration away from home……Saturday we headed south towards Wellsboro, PA and as we were passing Ives Run Recreation Area at Hammond Lake, Dad suddenly pulled over the car, proclaiming he had spotted a bald eagle high in a tree overlooking the lake. I don’t know how he can drive at 60+ miles per hour, and spot these things, but he is really good at it. He walked across the highway, and attempted to take pictures. At one point he was out of my sight, walking down below the road level to get closer. I felt somewhat vulnerable on this long stretch of road, sitting there with the car running, the top down, and Dad nowhere in sight. I was glad when he reappeared. We decided to enter the recreation area, hoping there was not a fee, just to observe from afar, and there wasn’t. At the boat launch, Dad walked out to a place where he had a better vantage point and got his photos. I situated myself at a picnic table, and observed the inland birds – swallows, warblers, cowbirds, finches, and a killdeer that seemed annoyed at our choice for a parking spot – a nest in the gravel must have been near by.
Our trip continued, on to Leonard Harrison State Park, overlooking Pine Creek Gorge. We did some birding there – at the overlook, and along a trail on the rim, but it started to rain, and we ended our hike by returning to the overlook and observing two turkey vultures in flight below us.
Day 2 – Sunday – our travels took us to Mecklenburg. There was a chicken barbecue at the church there. Dad thought that sounded like Mother’s Day dinner, and it sounded good to me. We took our meal (chicken, potatoes, carrot salad, baked beans, dinner roll and choice of pie – Dad loved the elderberry) to the overlook at Taughannock Falls and had our dinner there in the sunshine at the picnic area. We took pictures of the falls, trying not to take for granted a spectacle that we had seen so many times before….We made our way back through the Finger Lakes National Forest, and the rest is a blur to me. All the fresh air from the weekend excursion’s put me to sleep for the ride home.
