Made My Day---White-bellied Sea Eagle

I was having a somewhat frustrating day. I had set of for the Arve Valley, hoping to find and photograph, Scrubtits. Well, I found several, all in deep, deep shade, and not very co-operative either. I had tried instead, first Tasmanian Scrubwrens and then a pair of Pink Robins. None of them wanted to play. Cutting my losses, I decided to look for Swift Parrots. I had found a few at Port Huon on the way, high in the tops of blue-gums, being harried by a pair of Yellow Wattlebirds, and I had heard a distant flock in the forest near Geeveston. Bill Wakefield had mentioned seeing several in coastal trees around Gordon, and I opted to go there.
By now the morning was nearly over, and from previous experience, Swift Parrots often roost in the middle of the day, and are more difficult to find. Several stops along the coast near Gordon failed to produce any Swifties, which was in line with the rest of my morning! I was just deciding whether to find an eatery or wait until I got home to have lunch, when I noticed a bird flying parallel to my car over the water. My first assumption was Kelp Gull, possibly from the nearby gullery, but cautiously switching my gaze from road to bird (and back), I realised it was a White-bellied Sea Eagle. Not only that, but if I drove hard enough, and got to the approaching small headland first, I had an evens chance of photographing it as it flew by. Well I beat it by a whisker, or whatever the avian equivalent is, parked (there are double white lines here, but it's a quiet road), grabbed my camera. I was ready! But the eagle had seemingly disappeared. Where was it? I walked back down the road, looking out over the bay, nothing. Then the penny dropped, it had landed in a nearby 'tree with a view'. I closed on the bird, but it looked a bit edgy and shortly took flight. I took several shots as it passed, which when reviewed as I ambled back, were terrible! I really was having a bad day. Fortunately, as I looked back towards my car, I could see the eagle, now perched in a tree alongside it. Take 2. This perch was photographically much better, and the eagle allowed me to photograph and watch it for 15 minutes or more. Finally, after much ruffling of feathers, it took flight, almost straight towards me and away over the hillside forest. I suspect this bird is a regular along this piece of coast, probably nesting nearby, and has become accustomed to vehicles and the presence of people. For me, it saved an otherwise forgettable morning.