[Rhodes22-list] Bald Eagles!

[Wally Buck]

Paul,

As Roger said if they can make an easy kill they will go for it. Around here 
they seem to favor Coots. If there are no easy pickings they will scavenge. 
The Golden Eagles almost always go for the fresh meat. About 40 miles down 
river there is a huge flock of Sand Hill Cranes. I hear the Golden Eagles 
are moving in for the easy pickings.

I was sitting on my deck one time watching a little rabbit eat some clover 
in my back yard. In a split second a Red Tail Hawk swooped down out of the 
sky and landed right on top of Mr. Bunny. After throttling the rabbit with 
his talons the Hawk flew away with his snack. The rabbit never knew what him 
him.

You gotta love the call of the wild ...


Wally






>From: "Roger Pihlaja" <cen09402@centurytel.net>
>Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
>To: <paul@mi.chtechnology.com>,"The Rhodes 22 mail list" 
><rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
>Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Bald Eagles!
>Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 09:21:37 -0500
>
>Paul,
>
>Including yesterday, I've only seen bald eagles feeding in the wild twice.
>The other time was in the summer of 1998 on Garden Island out in the middle
>of northern Lake Michigan.  We were hiking along the beach, crested a sand
>dune, & there was this immature bald eagle (didn't have a completely white
>head yet), right at the water's edge, feeding on a double-crested 
>cormorant.
> >From the blood on the ground & on the eagle, the kill was obviously quite
>fresh.  Apparently, this eagle had a taste for cormorants because there 
>were
>several shredded carcasses along the beach within a 1/4 mile of that spot.
>The eagle looked & sounded highly annoyed when we interupted its meal (gave
>us the big raptor evil eye & scrack!), but it flew off as soon as it saw 
>us.
>
>My North American Wildlife Field Guide says bald eagles eat carrion,
>waterfowl, & especially fish.  The bird absolutely looks & acts like a
>perfect killing machine.  Those ducks yesterday never had a chance.  Each
>eagle simply selected one, harvested it, & flew away with it.  But, I
>suppose if there's a dead body available that one doesn't have to expend
>energy to chase down; then, why not go for the easy meal?
>
>Roger Pihlaja
>S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Paul Grandholm" <paul@mi.chtechnology.com>
>To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
>Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 8:35 AM
>Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Bald Eagles!
>
>
> > Roger,
> >
> >      Very interesting message.  Thanks for sharing.  Carol & I took an
> > Alaska cruise a couple of years ago where there is a plethora of bald
> > eagles.  When we were in Ketchikan we visited a sanctuary where they 
>take
> > in injured eagles and nurse them back to health.  There we were told 
>that
> > bald eagles are actually scavengers and avoid hunting live prey if
> > possible.  Now I'm confused.  Do you have any thoughts on this?
> >
> > Paul
> > >
> > >Roger,
> > >
> > >Eagles are pretty amazing creatures. We have quite a few of them around
> > >here, so we get to watch them in action quite regularly. It really 
>sucks
>to
> > >be the duck, or whatever they've decided is for lunch though. Their aim
>is
> > >pretty deadly. Many times we have watched eagles swoop down and pluck
>fish
> > >right out of the water and never get more than their feet wet. It's 
>good
>to
> > >see they're coming back after a close call with extinction.
> > >
> > >Rik
> > >
> > >
> > >At 04:36 PM 2/4/2003 -0500, you wrote:
> > >>Hi Everybody,
> > >>
> > >>I was sitting here at my computer working on some internet job 
>searches
> > >>when I looked out my window just in time to see a mature male bald 
>eagle
> > >>land in the tree right above my dock!  I couldn't believe my eyes.  
>I've
> > >>lived on Sanford Lake since 1977 & have never seen a bald eagle here
>until
> > >>now.  I jumped up to go get my 35 mm camera.  I got back just in time 
>to
> > >>see a female bald eagle join this male (a nesting pair perhaps?!?).  
>The
> > >>female eagle didn't land in the tree.  Instead, she began diving on a
> > >>flock of about 12 bufflehead ducks, which were in the water feeding on
>the
> > >>sandbar about 100 yards off our beach.  The male eagle joined her & 
>you
> > >>should have seen the ducks scatter in all directions!  My 35 mm camera
> > >>takes several seconds to boot up from a cold start.  By the time the
> > >>camera was ready to shoot, the action had moved off down the lake out 
>of
> > >>range.  I went out on our deck with my binoculars & saw both eagles
>snare
> > >>ducks in their talons in mid flight!  They both flew off with a duck 
>in
> > >>their talons in same southerly direction down the lake!  It was 
>totally
>cool.
> > >>
> > >>Roger Pihlaja
> > >>S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
> > >>_________________________________________________
> > >>Use Rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
> > >
> > >_________________________________________________
> > >Use Rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
> >
> >
> >
> > ========================
> > Paul Grandholm
> > C&H Technology
> > GrandPower Components Div.
> > ========================
> > _________________________________________________
> > Use Rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
> >
> >
>
>_________________________________________________
>Use Rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list


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