….the scientific name for the Bald Eagle is Haliaeetus leucocephalus?

Or that it has a mass of 3 – 6.3 kg and a wingspan of 180 – 230 cm, which is pretty astounding really. I would convert that to non-metric for you, but if you’re that interested you can probably do it yourself.

These are the kind of random facts you acquire when you’re researching for a book. I was into the flow of the story, tapping away happily on my keyboard, when an eagle lands. In the story, not randomly in my apartment. And the thought struck me: how heavy is an eagle anyway? Have I just wrote something completely implausible?

Normally, if I’m in the flow of a story, I make the point of not stopping. If something occurs to me that it might not be entirely accurate, or if I can’t quite get the right word or name, I tend to just write [CHECK] in the manuscript after it. Otherwise you end up chasing rabbit holes on the interwebz. Don’t look at me like you don’t know what I’m talking about. You do it too.

However, in this instance, I’m glad I did. It’s nice to sometimes take a moment to wonder at the sheer impressiveness of nature.