With a short window of daylight after work on New Year’s Day, I took a walk behind the paper mills along Water Street near the Flats neighborhood.

Almost immediately I found two adult Bald Eagles roosting in a tree near the river. Both flew from there perches as I walked along the path, which was almost swarming with Dark-eyed Juncos and Song Sparrows.

A few hundred yards downstream, though, the eagles reappeared — to chase a third eagle, this one an immature, from the tree where it sat.

I started to walk down to the river with the hope of catching some combination of the eagles in flight when they eventually headed back upstream. As I approached the water, something burst from the bushes and ran within a few feet of me, heading toward the mills. I thought I’d startled one of the resident groundhogs or muskrats — which, in addition to squirrels, are the only mammals I regularly see on my urban birding excursions.

Instead, though, as my eyes focused on the furry blur, I realized I was looking at a Gray Fox.

The fox stopped about 20 yards away and turned to face me. It squinted, barely opening its eyes, and I wondered if I’d accidentally woken it from an afternoon nap. It stretched, yawned widely, and then went on its way.

Here are a few photos from our encounter, along with a shot of one of the eagles:

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