eagle

Tag

By Hershey and the Red-tailed Hawk

Jordan Lake, H&G Nest Report: The bald eagle Dad Hershey at H&G nest, several vultures and a red-tailed hawk were all circling in the same kettle of rising air. For whatever reason the red tail hawk decided to fuss at Dad Hershey. They had a face off, way up in the air! They glared, made threats and then broke away from each other. Dad Hershey then dashed down to the lake and grabbed a fish that a ring-billed gull had dropped. The bald eagle took the fish back to a big branch and was happily eating on the fish when, for whatever reason, the red-tailed hawk showed up and complained and made Dad Hershey duck and scrunch down. Apparently having had it’s say, the red-tailed hawk then sailed off into the tree line. I don’t know what started all the ruckus. Neither bird has eggs or chicks in a nest. So, maybe it was just that the red-tailed hawk had a desire to be crabby. Or maybe I should say hawkish?

By Early Start

Jordan Lake: H&G Nest. Hershey and Godiva have been very chatty of late. They have also started to repair their nest … and they are a month earlier than usual. I am not at all sure what the early start means! In the 1st photo that is Hershey up top and Godiva down below. The bald eagle in flight is Hershey.

By Small Fish Are Slippery!

Jordan Lake: small fish are slippery as this two year old bald eagle was finding out. She caught a fish in the normal way … with her talons. Once up in the air with the fish, the eagle realized that she just might drop it. Watch as the youngster figures out how to take the fish from her feet … in mid—air … only to realize she wanted to put it back between her feet. The young eagle never lost any altitude during all of the maneuvering… that was awesome!

By Delightful Close Encounter

Jordan Lake: it had been a frustrating morning for my friend Bill and I. Fog and more fog everywhere. As the morning air started to clear up, a few birds started to appear and then out of the corner of my eye I saw this four-year-old bald eagle fly in around the corner, land on a limb about 100 feet from us, and it started to eat its catfish. Neither Bill nor I breathed. We leaned as far around as we could without moving from our places and began photographing this beautiful bald eagle. According to the timestamp on my camera, the eagle stayed with us for right at two minutes. Then, off it went taking its fish and Bill and I breathed again.

By Fledglings Testing Each Other

Jordan Lake Dam: This morning was our quarterly bald eagle count at Jordan Lake. I and three others were counting from the top of the Jordan Lake Dam. We had actually finished the count – which runs from 7:00 to 8:30 AM but we were still watching the skies when this pair of fledgling bald eagles came tumbling out from around the corner. They were way out to mid lake. The two of them bounced in and out and around the corner several times. There was an almost cold wind and piled up gray clouds this morning. Bald Eagles really enjoy cold bouncy air and these two were certainly testing the wind and each other.