The last Sunday in February was a mild, sunny day that started out calm. But as the afternoon wore on, a southwest breeze filled in and created little dust devils near the ground.

It was a nice day to take a ride and see if any wintering eagles were still around.

I stopped at the boat launch at Lackawaxen during the afternoon. There was no ice to be seen on the river; the gravel bar upstream of the Lackawaxen River confluence was visible. Some common mergansers were downstream of the gravel bar, and small groups of mallards were flying by. A red-tailed hawk flew overhead. No eagles were visible, but that soon changed.

A single adult bald eagle made its appearance, flying upstream. Another one appeared a few minutes later. A group of black vultures was spotted, followed by some scattered turkey vultures

The vultures were working a thermal directly overhead, and then a pair of eagles appeared and flew into the rising column of air. A second pair of eagles came from the north and flew overhead, but lower. Another adult appeared and flew overhead.

By now, the thermal was starting to lose its energy, and the various raptors dispersed. A couple of eagle pairs were now getting lift off the ridge on the New York side; the breeze blowing against the ridge helped. Two separate eagle pairs engaged in flying close to each other and displaying talons; this could be courtship behavior that is seen over the winter.

During winter, it can be difficult to tell the visiting migrant eagles from Canada from the now-abundant resident eagles that live here all year. With over 20 active nests on the main stem of the Delaware River between Port Jervis and Hancock, NY, and a few more along the Lackawaxen River, you could see more of our local eagles performing the air shows.