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Raptors are really neat.
May. 14th, 2008 04:39 pmToday's really really cool wildlife observation:
I was riding at the river, and spotted a mama merganser and her ducklings (awwww). They did an amazing job of melting into the underbrush, being rather shy ducks, but while I was trying for a glimpse of them I spotted the eagle again, just when I'd given up on seeing her.
There were two eagles this time. The slightly smaller one, I'm assuming the male since raptors tend to work that way, dove out of his tree and landed on the riverbank, just in the water, with a humongous splash. A little later, he flew a few feet upstream, followed by the female, and landed on the bank again. I slipped into the water and made myself inconspicuous. At this point, he had either a fat snake or a freshwater eel...I assume the latter, though I didn't see him make the kill. An osprey started yelling at him and dive-bombing him at this point, but other than yelling back (the cry of a bald eagle, I discovered, sounds half way between a hawk's scream and a herring gull), the eagle stood his ground and didn't move. No reason for him to; he was easily twice as big as the osprey (which isn't a small bird), and the osprey was pretty keen on not getting *too* close.
I hadn't seen the prey at that point and was thinking the osprey was attempting to harry the eagles out of its territory, but since I've seen the osprey and eagles in more or less the same space twice now, I'm assuming that the smaller fish-eating raptor was hoping for a scavenge. Can't blame the guy. He eventually left, and the eagles took flight, circling low over the river in formation with one another. They're amazing, completely unmistakable birds with a heck of a lot of presence.
They started either bickering over the eel or doing some sort of courtship ritual with it, but either way, watching them move through the air together was pretty incredible. They flew out of sight, neither having yet devoured the eel. All of the birds seemed healthy and in great condition. I watched them for about an hour, and felt incredibly blessed.
So yeah...my professional life is a huge mess right now, but my birdwatching luck has been incredible lately.
I was riding at the river, and spotted a mama merganser and her ducklings (awwww). They did an amazing job of melting into the underbrush, being rather shy ducks, but while I was trying for a glimpse of them I spotted the eagle again, just when I'd given up on seeing her.
There were two eagles this time. The slightly smaller one, I'm assuming the male since raptors tend to work that way, dove out of his tree and landed on the riverbank, just in the water, with a humongous splash. A little later, he flew a few feet upstream, followed by the female, and landed on the bank again. I slipped into the water and made myself inconspicuous. At this point, he had either a fat snake or a freshwater eel...I assume the latter, though I didn't see him make the kill. An osprey started yelling at him and dive-bombing him at this point, but other than yelling back (the cry of a bald eagle, I discovered, sounds half way between a hawk's scream and a herring gull), the eagle stood his ground and didn't move. No reason for him to; he was easily twice as big as the osprey (which isn't a small bird), and the osprey was pretty keen on not getting *too* close.
I hadn't seen the prey at that point and was thinking the osprey was attempting to harry the eagles out of its territory, but since I've seen the osprey and eagles in more or less the same space twice now, I'm assuming that the smaller fish-eating raptor was hoping for a scavenge. Can't blame the guy. He eventually left, and the eagles took flight, circling low over the river in formation with one another. They're amazing, completely unmistakable birds with a heck of a lot of presence.
They started either bickering over the eel or doing some sort of courtship ritual with it, but either way, watching them move through the air together was pretty incredible. They flew out of sight, neither having yet devoured the eel. All of the birds seemed healthy and in great condition. I watched them for about an hour, and felt incredibly blessed.
So yeah...my professional life is a huge mess right now, but my birdwatching luck has been incredible lately.
