Does anybody know eagles?

[stuckathuntermtn]

http://www.ffcars.com/photopost/data/500/chicken-hawk-henry_www-txt2pic-com.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]

[Flyoverland Captive]

It's damn hard for me to imagine bald eagles in Florida...but they're there - mating pairs.

Back in 1982 I went to the Keys; there were three or four dozen baldies sitting in trees near the beginning of the causeway. They were everywhere, just common as hell.

[GeezerSteve]

They were mature Bald Eagles. White head/tail most distinguished field mark of any American bird. First day novice birders nail it. Baldies are not so rare these days. I see at least 1,000 each year, at least one 300 days/year the past 20 years. Baldies have become one of my ho hum birds.

Mature Golden Eagles are about the same size or a wee bit bigger, easily distinguished from a baldie by an experienced birder. (Immature baldies are sometimes confused with goldens by novices.) Goldens are not closely related to baldies (goldens are more closely related to buteos, e.g., Red-tailed Hawks). Goldens are much more rare than baldies and live away from developed areas. In a good year I might see a dozen. (As a nerd birder I'm always looking for birds.) I'm thrilled each time I see a Golden Eagle.

b-bear, the Ospreys in NY state flew south to GA, FLA, Cuba, South America, etc. starting a couple months ago. I've never heard of anyone confusing an Osprey with a baldie. (I have seen people confuse and Osprey with a gull and vice versa.)

[ill-advised strategy]

Surfing at my regular spot in Washington, a bald eagle dropped a salmon out of the air about 20 feet in front of me. I paddled like hell and actually tailed this stunned salmon and brought it in. It was a paddle in, and a 5 minute walk back to the truck and that eagle was just circling me the whole way, like "wtf asshole!".

From then on that bird would soar around my truck when I showed up, and track me while I hiked in, then just sit on this one tall tree and watch me surf....I anthropomorphized a degree of bitterness and resentment to this behavior. I don't think that's an entirely unreasonable interpretation.

I'm not going to lie, it was a curious blend of emotions. I mean, it was a spectacular thing and a great story; but then it got kind of creepy with this huge bird taking a very strange and personal interest in me....and it was a very consistent thing, like every time I went it was the same thing with this bird. It was weirdly creepy being alone out there wondering if this bird was going to swoop down and claw my eyes out or something.

[babybear]

jeez louise- I was just trying to offer options

[snoqpass]

Not to go all Marlin Perkins on you but ospreys don't look anything like bald eagles. They're brown/white as opposed to black/white and similar to a crow in size. While they both tend to hang out around open water eagles soar/circle while ospreys hover then dive in to grab their prey. Eagles swoop in and pluck it off the surface, they're not built for diving. We have a mating pair of ospreys at our little local lake...it's pretty cool to watch them in action. We also had an eagle there this summer which I thought was a little weird, they usually go north where it's cooler. I guess if they can find food and a mate it's all good.

One day I was fishing a local lake stocked with triploid trout and a Osprey got one but it was so big it was having a hard time getting getting elevation then along come two eagles that made him drop it, one eagle chased him away and the other retrieved it but it too still had a hard time flying with it but managed to make it to it’s nest nearby the osprey could only sit in a tree not far away and bitch at them. Our noble birds are just a bunch of thugs.

[Gepeto]

surprized at your suprize op...

Both italian highlands and lake communities have a healthy population of white tailed eagle.




All that peepin you've been doing and not one sighting? Steve wonder fan club? How bad is it? Get in trouble mounting and dismounting easily? Is this your underbelly we're seeing?

i would take silverton off my bucket list if i were you

[Garth Bimble]

jeez louise- I was just trying to offer options

Sorry...wasn't trying to be an ass, sometimes it just happens.

[wendigo]

This is why you always carry a big stick (high above your head, eagles attack the highest point).
Oh and pffffft to those dumpster rats!

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Surfing at my regular spot in Washington, a bald eagle dropped a salmon out of the air about 20 feet in front of me. I paddled like hell and actually tailed this stunned salmon and brought it in. It was a paddle in, and a 5 minute walk back to the truck and that eagle was just circling me the whole way, like "wtf asshole!".

From then on that bird would soar around my truck when I showed up, and track me while I hiked in, then just sit on this one tall tree and watch me surf....I anthropomorphized a degree of bitterness and resentment to this behavior. I don't think that's an entirely unreasonable interpretation.

I'm not going to lie, it was a curious blend of emotions. I mean, it was a spectacular thing and a great story; but then it got kind of creepy with this huge bird taking a very strange and personal interest in me....and it was a very consistent thing, like every time I went it was the same thing with this bird. It was weirdly creepy being alone out there wondering if this bird was going to swoop down and claw my eyes out or something.

You should have felt respect and awe, that's an amazing story.

[KQ]

Mt Baker local are sure to let it be known that those
big birds flying around Shuksan are ravens not crows.

They are all around Snoqualmie too! Love their cackle!



This is cool:

[Benny Profane]

Snffff.

[gravitylover]

LOL!! I can assure you that the American crows you see where you live are not any bigger than crows anywhere else in the US. Maybe you have Ravens which are bigger but given the fact that you couldn't tell a crow from an American Bald Eagle tells me you don't know birds (no offense intended).

The size of some of the Ravens I've seen this year is impressive.

Do you have Ravens in NY? Bald Eagles are growing in numbers in NY.

Not just growing, exploding. I see a couple a week.

Ospreys are water birds. This was far inland.

There's water up there too ya know There's lakes and this BIG river not too far away. Osprey are not terribly common but not entirely unheard of in the Taconics.

Yes, and a lot of buzzards.

Those are almost always Turkey Vultures not Buzzards. Huge(like mega fucking huge), nasty, ugly as fuck prehistoric looking buggers. Those are the bigass birds you see circling at crazy altitudes on sunny days.

[iceman]

All I know is I hate the fucking Eagles, man.

[GeezerSteve]

Turkey Vultures not Buzzards

Same thing in NY and most of America, i.e., in the U.S. "buzzard" is colloquial for Turkey Vulture. In the Old World, "buzzard" refers to any of several buteos.

[refried]

I had a ravens nest and an eagles nest within a couple hundred feet of my last house, they were constantly harassing each other. The ravens were great at mimicking sounds, There was one who had the phone ring down pat, He also liked the beep when I'd adjust the satellite dish, but the best was the CO detector in the van. One day I heard it going off so I removed the battery, a little while later I heard it again and checked the van, the battery was out and it was silent, 5 minutes later I heard it again, This time I saw the raven sitting in the tree making the noise.

[BmillsSkier]

I forgot [ ]Steve was our resident ornithologist.

You sure it wasn’t just a seagull over a trash dump Benny?

[GeezerSteve]

BMills lives not so far from Hinckley, where hundreds of people congregate each March to greet the spring and watch buzzards (turkey vultures) roost

[BmillsSkier]

BMills lives not so far from Hinckley, where hundreds of people congregate each March to greet the spring and watch buzzards (turkey vultures) roost

Been almost 20 years since NE Ohio was last my home but i know exactly what you’re talking about. I remember checking out the turkey vultures roost over in Hinkley and the tons of Blue Herrons off Bath Rd in CVNP.

Some pretty cool birding in NE OH, I can definitely see the appeal. I guess last year or so a small flock of wayward pelicans made their summer home off the shores of Lake Erie by the mouth of the Cuyahoga.

Pretty cool.

[GeezerSteve]

I started my birding life in NE Ohio when I attended KSU. Spring warbler migration was the highlight.

[old goat]

Saw a couple of sparrows chasing and harrassing a golden eagle in the Grand Canyon this summer. Pretty comical to see them being so aggressive towards a much larger bird, although the eagle probably didn't think it was funny.

[Benny Profane]

A murder of crows going after a hawk is always entertaining.

[riser4]

All I know is I hate the fucking Eagles, man.

Did you have a really rough night?

[byates1]

epic. laughing! thx!

[FJ62]

Surfing at my regular spot in Washington, a bald eagle dropped a salmon out of the air about 20 feet in front of me. I paddled like hell and actually tailed this stunned salmon and brought it in. It was a paddle in, and a 5 minute walk back to the truck and that eagle was just circling me the whole way, like "wtf asshole!".

From then on that bird would soar around my truck when I showed up, and track me while I hiked in, then just sit on this one tall tree and watch me surf....I anthropomorphized a degree of bitterness and resentment to this behavior. I don't think that's an entirely unreasonable interpretation.

I'm not going to lie, it was a curious blend of emotions. I mean, it was a spectacular thing and a great story; but then it got kind of creepy with this huge bird taking a very strange and personal interest in me....and it was a very consistent thing, like every time I went it was the same thing with this bird. It was weirdly creepy being alone out there wondering if this bird was going to swoop down and claw my eyes out or something.

Next time you surf, you should stop at Fred Meyer on the way and buy your bird friend a salmon. It is the holidays after all.