March 2, 2012

Cliffy Discoveries

Last summer, we saw a golden eaglet perching on a nest in The Cedars, near our house. Will the parents be back this year? We're on the lookout. 
While exploring for petroglyphs, Steve found another pair of eagle nests about a mile from the one that sheltered the eaglet of last summer.  The higher nest looks ready for occupancy.
Oddly enough, we've seen petroglyphs near each set of eagle nests.  Can you see the carrot marking the one high on a cliff?  Don't ask me how a Native American got up there.  I have no idea.  Daisy is at the bottom of the cliff, possibly wondering how she might climb up.
Petroglyph, zoomed in.
Since the nests are in ideal locations, maybe the eagles have raised young there since the time the petroglyphs were carved, and perhaps the petroglyphs were marking the spots as special or sacred.  It's interesting to speculate. 
The above petroglyphs were not near a nest.  Man chasing deer, with extra large human footprint?  That's my best guess.  What do you think? The figure above and to the left looks a little like a jackrabbit to me.
Some of the cliffs in the area look golden.  Minerals (copper, iron, sulphur, or a combination) must be responsible. 
Fungi draws its own colorful art on the rocks.

19 comments:

  1. I orange coloring of the fungi is beautiful.

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  2. The things you two discover are amazing. The bird on high has no worries for the ground only the skies above.
    Thanks for letting me look over your shoulder, Janie
    cheers :)

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  3. That nest is Huge!

    Who can say about the native petroglyphs, but always fun to find.

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  4. What a great set of finds. The eagle nests are outstanding and so are the petroglyphs.

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  5. that will be interesting to see if they return.

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  6. I hope you are able to find eaglets in each of those nests. When we were looking at petroglyphs this summer I often wondered how the artist got up to the place where they were created. Absolutely amazing.

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  7. I've read where the sheer weight of an eagle's nest can be in the hundreds of pounds. Petroglyphs are always fun to think about what they were trying to picture. Of course my mind always goes to some sort of alien intervention that influence the artwork. But the zoomed in petroglyph makes me think the artist took a mis-step and fell to his death thus not completing the etching, hence the missing arm. Who knows?

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  8. A fabulous post, Janie - I am in awe of the petroglyphs. I sure hope you're lucky enough to have some eaglets again this spring. Put Daisy on guard.

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  9. awesome shots Janie...I think the last one is my favorite...

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  10. The petroglyphs are just amazing...I am so impressed with them! I have no idea what the hand/claw thing is though.
    Baby eagles? How lucky are you to witness such beautiful little beasts!!
    Even you can find 'pretty' in fungi!!! This was a fun post Janie.

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  11. Your discoveries of eagle nests and the colors and petroglyphs on the cliffs are all so wondrous and I sure enjoyed seeing them through your pictures.

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  12. LOVE that country!!! keeping posting more!!!!!!! I love reading Craig Childs' books about his exploring Utah and Arizona and all the archy stuff he finds.
    I am WAITING for our eagles to start nesting... they're still hanging around at least, and my bird biologist friend said it's not too late for them to start.
    - The Equestrian Vagabond

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  13. That is interesting to speculate about. Maybe it's been a bird roost going back through the ages. Love that fungi!

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  14. Fascinating stone age art. We help with the annual golden eagle survey here in Bluff Country. Over 100 located in the three state corner. Mn, Wisc. & Iowa. Rare but not as rare as previously believed. They winter here probably down from Canada and not the Rocky Mt. West like orginially thought....

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  15. I'm guessing hunter chasing desert bighorns. The association with eagle nests is intriguing--maybe worth a little lit review or chat with a local archaeologist?

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  16. All of those are exciting finds!

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  17. The fungi is gorgeous and the petroglyphs an amazing treasure. O sure hope no mining company moves in to extract the copper! The countryside is gorgeous.

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  18. What a great post! I am so impressed with petroglyphs and always wonder about the people who left them there so long ago. And eagles too! Lucky you.

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  19. How exciting to have an eagle's nest (or two!) nearby that you can monitor. Beautiful images, one and all and even better when clicking to see the enlarged version.

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