Bald Eagles - Shadow & Jackie

[Jeff Higgins]

Ten years ago, in front of the Chinggis Khan memorial outside of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia:

[911 Rod]

Lots of Bald Eagles around here. There is a swamp with 40 ft dead trees with dozens of nests.

Apparently the first wild Bald Eagle egg was hatched the other day somewhere in Toronto. They did not disclose the exact location knowing people would flock to it.

[3rd_gear_Ted]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Ten years ago, in front of the Chinggis Khan memorial outside of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia:

That is an impressive Bird, the kid looking on is impressed too.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by 3rd_gear_Ted

When one of my Dog's died, a Red tailed hawk landed on my fence and blessed me with some peace. Now I even admire Turkey Vultures, who are the ugliest things in the sky but know how to float for hours without a wing beat.

The first time I saw a turkey vulture there were 2 sitting (standing) on a fence not that far away. I thought I was in a horror movie. Even their posture while on the fence is ugly.

This was out where some guys gathered on weekends to fly model planes. I'm wondering if the vultures had experience with collisions between other birds and the planes and had meals served up to them fresh and warm.

Not that day.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Zeke

The first time I saw a turkey vulture there were 2 sitting (standing) on a fence not that far away. I thought I was in a horror movie. Even their posture while on the fence is ugly.

This was out where some guys gathered on weekends to fly model planes. I'm wondering if the vultures had experience with collisions between other birds and the planes and had meals served up to them fresh and warm.

Not that day.

They are big birds. We have turkey vultures and black vultures here. The black vultures look the same other than having black heads, but the head that blends color-wise with the rest of the body is much less ugly.

[GG Allin]

The only time I've seen a bald eagle in the U.S. was in Rockford IL (of all places) a few years ago. They are around here though.

[flipper35]

We have a ton around hear as we are along the mighty Mississippi. They stop and hang around in our trees, eat the neighbor cats, annoy our dogs.

Our first dog was a Labrador retriever and she was fighting with a bald eagle over a deer head she, our dog, had found along the property. She had no fear of the Eagle. Stupid dog.

We had another lab named Jackie and our current male Frenchie is Shadow.

[Jeff Higgins]

Watching out the window as we speak as one of "our" Bald Eagles is lazily circling the neighborhood.

And yes, they eat the neighbors' cats. We have an abundant rabbit population as well, which is what probably attracted them in the first place. They are unusually far away from a river, lake or Puget Sound. They usually nest much closer to large bodies of water. We have a creek through our neighborhood, but I really don't think it harbors any fish.

Word for the day - "Weißkopfseeadler". My visiting German cousin taught me this one. Literally "white headed sea fisherman".

[flipper35]

We are about 15 miles from the river and sometimes when the shad is less available they come inland to grab piglets. They also sit in the road and look at you as you approach like what are you going to do about it.

Wife had one drop a cat in the road in front of her. Fortunately she didn't hit the cat.

Be interesting to see one grab a badger.

[Scott Douglas]

If you read the web page it says they don't think the eggs are going to hatch this year.

[wdfifteen]

A few years ago there was one of the live cams of an osprey nest. The mother was horribly abusive to her chicks and it so upset some of the people watching that they took the camera feed down.

[Scott Douglas]

It said these two birds have raised two sets of chicks in the past. I'm betting our cold winter got to the eggs.

[stevej37]

One that I had in my back yard a couple years ago.....the best pic I could get before it saw me.
There was a dead road-kill opossum there.

[Jeff Higgins]

That's sad news about Shadow and Jackie's eggs. They only managed to raise one to fledge last year. I wonder what their success rate is per egg laid? I bet, like most wild animals, very few make it to adulthood.

[Jeff Higgins]

Correction!!! Thanks to Rikao for setting straight. "Adler" is German for "eagle", not "fisherman" as I stated above. I even asked my cousin again after Rikao's helpful correction. Stephan told me "eagle - what did you think I said?"... So, "white headed sea eagle". My bad... not sure how I heard "fisherman".

[masraum]

Originally Posted by GG Allin

The only time I've seen a bald eagle in the U.S. was in Rockford IL (of all places) a few years ago. They are around here though.

I've seen them a few times in FL.

I think Otis Redding wrote a song about this one.
"Sittin on a Duck at the Lake"

I filmed this on an old cell phone several years ago. He was <20' away. He had just snagged a full grown duck and is standing on him in this video.

[Scott Douglas]

There were turkey vultures up at the vineyard in Mendicino County where I used to work way back a long long time ago.
On cold mornings, they'd perch on the vineyard posts at the ends of the rows, spread their wings and let the sun warm them up. Some mornings you could see the 'steam' coming off their wings from the heat of the sun on the black feathers. Seeing anywhere from 6 to a dozen of these big birds doing this was quite the sight as the sun was always a back light to them from the house viewing point.
I really enjoyed watching the white kites do their hunting in the afternoons too. Seeing a bird that big hoovering in mid air is something else.

[Superman]

With bald eagles, the word "magnificent" comes to mind.

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

There is a local guy who manages bird of prey populations around airports. Birds and jet engines do not get along, but these birds stay out of the flight path, teach their kids to do the same, and they eat the pigeons and seagulls and chase the rest away. The guy watches the young ones and moves them to airports where they are needed, once mommy has completed their training.

[Zeke]

I had to carve an eagle head once that was broken off and missing.



Yeah, it's out of scale but this was the top of a mirror frame with gargoyles and other weird stuff.

[rockfan4]

Not my photo, but taken recently in La Crosse.

We have a lot of eagles here.