Jordan Lake. I sometimes find that the transition between 3.5 into 4 years of age for the bald eagle presents a quite striking appearance. This eagle has not been injured … he is molting. Even though he might look a little ragged and tattered to us he is very sure that he is might nigh perfect.
Jordan Lake. This morning was considerably cooler than it has been for more than a week. Apparently it was cool enough for this bald eagle to dare to cross above the glowing heat of the solar disk as it rose into the mists above the lake at dawn. Leave it to a bald eagle to be that arrogant.
Jordan Lake. The four-year-old bald eagle saw the fish jump. The race was on! I will probably never ever get another chance to photograph a bald eagle literally chasing a jumping shad. BTW the fish won. Hope you enjoy the race.
Jordan Lake. Birds molt – lose old feathers and gain new ones. Bald eagles molt about every two years. Kate is definitely shedding feathers. 1) some of the old downy body feathers are floating below her 2) see the ragged trailing edge of her wing where flight feathers are being exchanged. I think she looks like it’s an annoying process.
The backward pointing toe of the bald eagle is the hallux. The hallux works in a fashion similar to the thumbs in humans and it allows the eagle to grab and carry its prey with its feet. In the female bald eagle the hallux can be as long as 2 inches while in the male it’s only 1.25 inches. You can certainly see the size of the hallux on this female!
doc ellen's journey 