Since early December, all of us at the Katy Prairie Conservancy have been fielding calls about snow geese - when will they arrive, where are they roosting, why haven't they arrived, why are there so few of them.

Then in early March, I was driving down Pattison Road on my way to a meeting at KPC's Field Office.  Along the way I had already seen three hawks sitting on utility poles and was enjoying driving on such a beautiful, clear day.

Suddenly a huge flock of snow geese rose from the west side of the road and formed their traditional V to fly off to a new field.  I stopped the car and watched thousands of geese move in waves from one field to another.  It was like a Busby Berkley movie - the birds seemed to sort themselves out in a pattern and then move from field to field - taking off and setting down.  After a score of birds would leave, another score would take off.  It was amazing as they rose in the air and I saw the telltale smoke-like lines appear in the sky - a phenomenon people visiting the prairie on such occasions always use to describe the flock's flight.

I wondered why they seemed so restless - did they want more water, more food, a quieter place?  I watched for about 10 minutes before I realized that I was going to be late for my meeting.  I had just started driving again when I turned to the left for one last look and was confronted with the cold, steely eyes of a bald eagle staring into my own eyes.

I stopped the car and the eagle continued to stare.  I was amazed at how majestic and how big and how still the eagle was.  The eagle's stare made me understand the nervous movement of the snow geese.

I have seen eagles before and have been lucky to actually see them both on the ground, probably no more than 100 feet away, as well as flying overhead.  But I had never been eye to eye with one.  It was an amazing trip - one that I had thought would be routine.  But not any more.  After all these years, I had finally been given the eagle eye.  Now it's checked off my list - no more waiting for my close-up.