EAGLES


EAGLES

Peggy Williams AKA Birdie of Mississippi



In 2010 my husband Dennis came home excited from fishing at Arkabutla Lake and told me that he had spotted a bald eagle’s nest out on the water in the top of a tree.  He asked if I would bring my camera and take photographs because at the time bald eagles were still very rare.



Last week I noticed that on some of my old sales awards the eagle was the symbol used and I began to think again about the eagles I had photographed years ago. I don’t know much about eagles so I researched some simple facts on kids.nationalgeographic.com.  Bald eagles are not actually bald.  In old English language “balde” meant “white” thus since the head and tail feathers of the bald eagle are white it was given this name.  They are very large birds and the female is even larger than the male.  Their weight can be up to 14 lbs and the female’s wingspan is up to 8’ wide!  That’s the height of most rooms from the floor to the ceiling!  Eagles can soar as high as 10,000 feet and dive down at the rate of 100 miles per hour! They keep the same mate year after year building their nests at the top of trees for safety, often using the same nest, but updating it with new twigs, sticks and grass. They produce offspring each year called eaglets which are born gray then turn light brown.  Around the age of 4 or 5 they develop their bald heads. About 40 years ago eagles became endangered and legislation was made to prevent this species from being wiped out and their population has increased due to this protection.



The bald eagle was chosen as our national symbol by our Christian founders in 1782 and the eagle is used on our Presidential Seal, Great Seal of the U. S. and can be seen daily on our folding money and coins.  The eagle is not currently on Air Force One, but according to www.countable.us - President Trump met last year with the Boeing CEO – Dennis Muilenburg to redesign Air Force One and use an eagle on it to give it a tough look of U.S. strength.   



The eagle is used in many Bible verses to compare traits of the eagle with Christians – “But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”  Isaiah 40:31.  According to Bibleknowledge.com – Michael Bradley writes that eagles soar without actually flapping their wings with perfect ease on the wind currents conserving energy which can actually save their lives.  They wait for wind thermals (which are big gusts of wind that rise up from the atmosphere) and they will remain perched for days waiting for these gusts.  Mr. Bradley suggests that as Christians we are the eagle and our wings represent our faith and belief in God.  The wind thermals the eagle flies on represent the Holy Spirit. 



The bald eagle is an important bird in many respects of both our physical and spiritual lives and very worthy of what Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air.” Matthew 6:26.

My photos may be viewed & “LIKED” on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest - “Birdie of Mississippi”.

E-mail: birdieofmississippi@gmail.com

Read my Blog @ http://www.birdieofmississippi.blogspot.com






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