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By Doc Ellen’s Natural Minute 12/11/2020

Jordan Lake, Friday, December 11, 2020. The lake level is down to 217.63 ft. Getting close to a normal level of 216 ft. I had just pressed the start button on the iPhone when a pie-billed grebe showed up and then a second one showed up in such a big hurry it almost ran the first one down. These little grebes are always in pairs. Sometimes one of the pair is on one side of the cove and the other is on the other side, but this morning as you could see they decided to buddy up. Pied-billed grebes are so small that I could more or less fit one in my two hands. I hope you enjoy their passage past me and underneath several gulls. Have a blessed day, stay safe. Stay well and stay warm.

By Did I Really Catch the Fish?

Jordan Lake Dam, Haw River: I had just settled in on the riprap of the dam, just past the fishing pier, at 26 minutes after sunrise. An explosive motion caught my eye. This 4-year-old male bald eagle exploded out of the deep shadows of the trees across the river from me. He hit the water so fast that I missed his flare, caught his capture of the fish, wondered if he could hold onto the large fish with just one foot. The eagle wondered that too and glanced down to check…

By Launch!

Jordan Lake: About a week ago, Captain Doug and I spent several minutes in his boat, floating quietly on the lake, watching this female bald eagle enjoying a meal of a fish she had caught. We both waited patiently for the moment when she would finish the fish, clean her beak, stretch, shake out and launch into another tour of her kingdom. Oh, how I do like catching the energy of a launch!