eagles of Jordan Lake

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By Jordan Lake: Bald Eagles; Godiva Challenges Hershey

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.

By Jordan Lake: Practice!

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.

By Jordan Lake: Bald Eagle Fledgling
During the photography class this morning, we got a chance to watch this eaglet calmly, almost floating, fly past us. Always keeping an eye of all things happening at the lake, this fledgling bald eagle came by to see what was happening in his territory. What a great subject for my students! I thanked the eaglet for helping with the instructions.

By Jordan Lake Bald Eagles Playing in the Wind 09-05-2019

Hershey and Godiva are one of the mated pairs of bald eagles at Jordan Lake. This morning, while Hurricane Dorian was still off SC and we were just starting to get some good gusts, Godiva called out to Hershey, challenging him to a chase in the strengthening wind. By the way, Hershey is the light brown eagle (he is named after the chocolate bar) and Godiva is the normal dark brown of a bald eagle.