Your History Lesson for the Day

This past Saturday we went to the 12th Annual Eagle Festival in Blackwater, Maryland. Adam was super stoked to see an eagle out in the wild, even though we got there too late for the guided "Eagle Prowl" (we really like our weekends for sleeping in, what can we say?)

 We were stocked up with snacks, binoculars, and sweatshirts, but it turned out we didn't have to go very far at all! They had an eagle there who was living in captivity because she can no longer fly.


This little lady may be a little disheveled, what with her messy feathers, missing wing, and cranky face, but she still had her dignity.

The park ranger told us that Benjamin Franklin disagreed with the decision to make the Eagle our National Symbol, as eagles are known for stealing meals from other animals after they've done all the hard work to obtain it.

"I wish that the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country, he is a bird of bad moral character, he does not get his living honestly, you may have seen him perched on some dead tree, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labor of the fishing-hawk, and when that diligent bird has at length taken a fish, and is bearing it to its nest for the support of his mate and young ones, the bald eagle pursues him and takes it from him.... Besides he is a rank coward; the little kingbird, not bigger than a sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the district. He is therefore by no means a proper emblem for the brave and honest. . . of America.. . . "           (Source)


Benny boy would rather have seen the Turkey as our National Symbol.....




But I was still curious why we did choose the Eagle. Here's what I found online:

The bald eagle was chosen June 20, 1782 as the emblem of the United States of American, because of its long life, great strength and majestic looks, and also because it was then believed to exist only on this continent ...   The eagle represents freedom. Living as he does on the tops of lofty mountains, amid the solitary grandeur of Nature, he has unlimited freedom, whether with strong pinions he sweeps into the valleys below, or upward into the boundless spaces beyond. 

It is said the eagle was used as a national emblem because, at one of the first battles of the Revolution (which occurred early in the morning) the noise of the struggle awoke the sleeping eagles on the heights and they flew from their nests and circled about over the heads of the fighting men, all the while giving vent to their raucous cries. "They are shrieking for Freedom," said the patriots.    Thus the eagle, full of the boundless spirit of freedom, living above the valleys, strong and powerful in his might, has become the national emblem of a country that offers freedom in word and thought and an opportunity for a full and free expansion into the boundless space of the future. --Maude M. Grant

And if that just completely bore you, they also threw in some owls at the festival, and that's when things got reallly cute:

NO? That didn't help? You're still bored? Well, so is this guy:

I really wish I had gotten a picture of the lady holding him. She did her make up to perfectly match her owl's face (though I couldn't tell if that was intentional or not), and she kept sweet talking to the owl: "He knows who his mama is, doesn't he???" When she saw me with my camera, she swiveled his head around to face me, and this is the thrilled look I got. I'm sure this is only a preview of what my poor son will go through..... :) 

And then, at the very end of our adventure, just as we were walking to our car, three eagles soared directly over us. They stayed long enough for us to whip out our binoculars, watch them dance with each other for a bit, satisfy Adam's desire, and then they moved on. It was spectacular and made the whole day worth it.