I’ll never forget my first close-up view of a bald eagle. It occurred during my second trip here to Maine, one of three trips I undertook to decide where in the state I wanted to settle.

It was mid-March and I was staying at Yellow Birch Farm, a bed and breakfast on a working farm in Pembroke.

Adjacent to the farm property was a rolling, overgrown field, which was great for viewing American woodcocks’ aerial courtship flights and vocalizations. Another advantageous feature was a long ridge of lichen-and-moss-covered rock; its height afforded a 360-degree view of the surrounding forest and farmland, and a glimpse of Cobscook Bay in the distance.

Across the bay on a long finger of land, a particularly tall and robust white pine housed a bald eagle’s nest, itself also tall and robust. The owners of the farm said eagles cruised overhead quite regularly, so I had climbed the ridge in hopes of spotting one.

I was not disappointed!

A mature eagle soon came gliding toward me, not 20 feet overhead.

At the time I was in awe because I had never seen an eagle until coming to Maine. I’ve now lived here 10 years and see eagles every so often, but I still remain in awe of their size, grace, and power; it doesn’t matter how many times I see them. It seems other people feel the same way.

Members of the Penobscot Valley Chapter of Maine Audubon were treated to an eagle air show last Saturday. Jerry Smith and Bob Duchesne had led a field workshop on how to take digital photographs using a spotting scope.

Their first visit was to the shores of the Penobscot River in Bangor.

“We arrived downtown just in time [9 a. m.] to see at least four adult bald eagles courting and playing above the bridges, complete with vocalizations,” Duchesne said.

Although conditions were not right for photos, the eagles were the highlight of the day.

Recently I also heard from Armand and Gloria Andrle of Eddington.

They had gone out to Indian Trail Park in Brewer, which is situated on a bluff above the Penobscot River. They had just pulled into the parking lot when they saw three immature bald eagles and were also treated to an exciting air-show.

“The eagles were flying back and forth across the river; every so often one eagle would do a 360-degree barrel-roll beneath another. They then slowly circled upward and headed upriver,” Armand said.

He recalled that something about the immature eagle’s plumage made him think they could be golden eagles, although he admitted it wasn’t likely (but not impossible, either). He had obviously studied some bird identification guides, which put a question into his mind. The lighting also conspired to trick the eye:

“The sun shown from upriver – it was early afternoon – and lit the eagles in a golden light,” he remembers.

Even though the eagles were most likely the “garden variety” bald eagle, I still love that image – eagles being lit in a golden light on an early winter afternoon.

NEWS bird columnist Chris Corio can be reached at bdnsports@bangordailynews.net