I used to go Bald Eagle watching when I was in my teens early twenties. Would get a bag of green, some binocs, coffee, a camera, sometimes a girl, and drive down the Mississippi and find some.
If I found one on my side of the river in a tree that was close by I would always try to walk slowly up to the tree to get a good pic. I noticed that the older and bigger they got the closer to the tree I could get before they flew away. All eventually flew away.
Later in life, late twenties, I was having some stress in life and went down to a park, in my home town, on the Mississippi to take a walk.
There was a paved trail along the Mississippi and it rounded a bend and went back into a slew. I had walked it many times.
I had my head down thinking, and walked around the corner to go down the path by the slew when I raised my head. There about fifteen feet away in a tree right next to the path, on a large dead branch about eight feed off the ground, was the largest Bald Eagle I had ever seen. It must have been over 3.5 feet tall. It was freaking huge.
I stopped in mid step and just froze. That fucker was NOT moving, and it was starting me straight in the face.
I slowly backed up… turned around, and walked away.