Godiva was speeding down the lake when she suddenly pulled up vertical. Her mate Hershey was headed her way, also in a hurry. Godiva decided to challenge Hershey, possibly to a death spiral, but he wasn’t in any mood for the high stakes aerial. Hershey streaked over Godiva. Godiva was so mad she about stalled out of the air in her turn around to chase her mate. They both were quickly out of my sight.
While on the Haw River above the main lake, a friend and I watched a pair of immature bald eagles practicing the maneuver known as a death spiral. I managed to get one of the talon to talon grabs that the youngsters were practicing; when they get really good at this skill they lock both feet to both feet. This is a critical skill for a bald eagle to learn as it is part of the breeding behavior of a potential breeding pair of bald eagles. The upper bird is a 4-year-old and the lower bird is a 3-year-old.
The fledgling eagle was enjoying a Sunday morning quiet moment (rare for a youngster to be quiet early in the day) when, well, when, oh why don’t I let you see what happened…
The dawn was gently layered in pastel pinks and blues. The elegant plunging body of the 4-year-old bald eagle was an arrogant jewel against the soft sky. The silvered spray of her capture was an accent point to the eagle’s successful fishing.
