Jordan Lake, Dawn. This is the third hover that Hershey had done inside of four minutes. He came dashing off of the shoreline, went into a hover, looked, pulled out, circled around. He did that same hover, half dive maneuver once more. You are seeing the third hover that he held for more than 4 seconds. You can also see that he once again did not actually go after whatever it was in the water that had his attention. I sure wonder what it was that had caused the repeated attempts!
Jordan Lake: “Hmmm, it appears I have put my toes in an awkward place. Let me consider this. Naw, I am an eagle and never get into awkward positions. Nope, not me. The toes are just fine, so there. Now, what was I watching…”
Jordan Lake. This 4-year-old bald eagle certainly has a startling tail feather! In the first photo, the topmost tail feather is a solid deepest brown down the outermost edge. I don’t usually see eagle tail feathers colored exactly like that. It does make her look rakish and sporty. I wish that she would keep that tail feather coloration throughout her life. However she is a four-year-old and in the midst of her molt. So I imagine in another 6 to 12 months she will have the solid white head and tail of a fully adult bald eagle.
Jordan Lake: I was watching Mom Godiva on a speed run up the main lake, heading north. I did not expect her to go fishing. Suddenly she did an almost 270° turn and had her feet in the water before I could catch up with her. As you can see maybe Godiva was a little too hasty in her fishing? That’s a big fish. She didn’t quite get a grip on it and flipped it out behind herself. The fish didn’t mind Godiva’s disappointment. Eagle zero, fish 1.
Jordan Lake. I watched this four-year-old bald eagle catch a very very tiny fish … tiny for an eagle. I could just barely see the fish’s tail past the eagle’s talons. She made it to the tree, landed, did a foot dance, turned around and looked absolutely miffed. I think all of us know where the eagle’s fish ended up. Refusing to look down at her lost fish on the ground any longer, she ignored my quiet laughter and flew off.
Jordan Lake: Captain Doug and I had thought that the bald eagle was standing a little awkwardly because maybe she was standing on a fish. But, no, a fish wasn’t involved in the stance at all … nope, there was an embarrassing toe problem…
doc ellen's journey 