Instead, we found deer.

One of my Clevelander students has wanted for I don't even know how long to see a bald eagle. And it turns out that there are bald eagles living near Gambier, on a road called Kilduff. And it turns out that I saw one of them at a nearby quarry last night:

(I needed a stronger telephoto lens than I have.)

Tonight, we climbed into my car with another Clevelander (former) student just after 8 and went searching for the eagle who perches at the quarry every night. He was not there, and I felt worse about it than I'd suspected I would. I know that he will be back; we may just have to try a few times before we espy him together. But I wanted her to see him as soon as possible.

It's no small thing to see a family of deer, though. We rolled the windows down all the way, and while I took pictures, my students called to the deer until they high-tailed it out of the field. Deer-jeering: our own fun. When we found the bucks all gathered in a nearby field, we whistled until they saw us. And then I waved. And then we drove on down the road and made another pass at the eagle's perching place, where he was not. Another night, I'm hoping.