Bald Eagles

Ed Haywood

Ed Haywood

Final Approach
Joined
Jul 12, 2020
Messages
7,624
Location
Tampa FL
Display Name
Ed
Home Airfield
FD77
In the past week I have seen at least a dozen bald eagles in central FL. They are usually circling at 2k AGL.

Think of the optical acuity to spot a rabbit from 2,000 feet, then dive on it at 100mph.

Absolutely a privilege to share the sky with these mighty birds.
 
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GeorgeC said:
They make it pretty clear that it is their sky and you just happen to be in it.
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They have pretty capable threat warning radar. I have seen several roll and pull to dodge me. Wonder if they got ahead of the FAA on mandatory ADS-B In?
 
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I see them also in the trees along the river. I fly along the river down low over corn fields and see em.
My dentist knows where most of the nests are as he counts birds for the state. Knows all about birds.
there's an eagle in one of those trees if you look real close, they never move as I fly by slow with flaps.
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We had a pair perched on the power pole in front of our pasture last week. Very cool to have them around (but keep cats and puppies indoors!).
 
When I was a teenager up in Alaska with my grandpa, we had an eagle swoop down and ride the bow wave of the pickup for 5 or 10 seconds…one of those times when I happened to have my camera with me, but was to absorbed by the event to think of it.

I flew eagle surveys for the DNR one summer, and the local DNR pilot said eagles were the one bird that would occasionally climb toward an airplane rather than just dive away.
 
Gary Ward said:
I see them also in the trees along the river. I fly along the river down low over corn fields and see em.
My dentist knows where most of the nests are as he counts birds for the state. Knows all about birds.
there's an eagle in one of those trees if you look real close.
36756285-11d2-41ec-aea8-32a691a65b88.jpg
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Across the river, 117th tree from the left, but I can’t tell if it’s a male or a female.
 
midwestpa24 said:
When I was younger I don't ever recall seeing a bald eagle in the wild. Today I can probably find at least one in a 5 minute car ride.
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Dentist says the discontinued use of DDT stopped the killing of birds of prey.
When I was a kid there was a large field behind our home that you would see rabbits in the evenings out in the open. Never saw birds of prey back then. Now we have hawks of all kinds flying around and not that many rabbits are out in the open any longer.
This is in our backyard up a hill. Couple hawks eating a rabbit I think? on top of a fence post in the rain.
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When it rained hard they both stood with there wings spread open.
 
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Tree in front of our former house....
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The house was on the top of a hill, and we'd regularly see them slope-soaring. Also, there was a tall cell tower at the end of the street, with a huge nest on top.

Ron Wanttaja
 
eman1200 said:
I like turtles.
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I like spotted owl… taste just like chicken….

Grew up in south central NE, under a MAJOR flyway for migratory ducks and geese, on a lake. Hundreds of thousands of geese and millions of ducks.

Early 80s, these things were SCARCE. Was fortunate enough to see 11 in one field of view.

It would be a shark feeding frenzy when a mess of ducks would freeze in the ice. Just a blood bath.

Also witnessed a couple duck grabs mid flight.

I was about 12, would walk miles to sit and watch them.
 
Certain times of the year, they hang around KMKG in large numbers. Can be a hazard on takeoff / landing. Would ruin your day, getting one of those through your windshield -
 
Gary Ward said:
This is in our backyard up a hill. Couple hawks eating a rabbit I think on top of fence post in the rain.
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VERY lucky squirrel, almost caught by a hawk. This is from a motion-detection camera above our driveway.
I think the rodent got into the bushes on the right.

Ron Wanttaja
 
Where I duck/goose hunt, we see Bald Eagles during the season. Ducks will get squirrely and fly off when hawks are flying nearby but geese don't give a
$hi+. However, when we see ducks and geese get the hell out of Dodge in a hurry, and no human traffic is about, we typically spot an eagle or two making the rounds. Everything respects the eagles.
 
Ed Haywood said:
They have pretty capable threat warning radar. I have seen several in my path roll and pull. Wonder if they got ahead of the FAA on mandatory ADS-B In?
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Mandate didn’t come out early enough for this one:

www.rapp.org

C-130 Bird Strike

C-130 goes mano-a-mano against an Eagle. The result? See the photos for yourself.
www.rapp.org
 
An Osprey is a pretty formidable opponent for a disputed fish possession, I have seen that play out from my sailboat.

On the other hand, a friend living on a bluff over the Potomac River had an eagle force an osprey down in his back yard, and after a few feathers were lost, gave up possession of the rock fish. The eagle started to eat the fish on site, but the mocking bird with nestlings in the overhanging tree disputed the eagles presence, diving and pecking its head and shoulders, until the eagle flew away, leaving the rock fish in the grass. They took a cell phone video of the encounter, hilarious to watch.

My friend went out, picked up the fish, took it to his cleaning station, and baked it for supper. The mocking bird had no issues with him, week in and week out, he cut the grass under that nest. He did wear a hat just in case the mocking bird was still in an aggressive mood.
 
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We have a lot of them on the lake that we boat. The population has really grown over the past 5-8 years. Every time we see them, I’m just amazed - both by their beauty, and the fact that we are actually seeing them.

Our kids think they are amazing, but never grasped why my wife and I got so excited about it — until we explained.

Growing up, we were told we would never see them in the wild and they would be extinct very soon. I don’t think it was being overhyped.

Shame it got as bad as it did. Inspiring success story for effective conservation efforts. Shows what can be accomplished.
 
I use to be impressed until I saw an osprey kick a bald eagle's ass. I see above an eagle that stole an osprey's lunch. Think we need a final event to settle this.
 
Learnin’ to fly… said:
We have a lot of them on the lake that we boat. The population has really grown over the past 5-8 years. Every time we see them, I’m just amazed - both by their beauty, and the fact that we are actually seeing them.

Our kids think they are amazing, but never grasped why my wife and I got so excited about it — until we explained.

Growing up, we were told we would never see them in the wild and they would be extinct very soon. I don’t think it was being overhyped.

Shame it got as bad as it did. Inspiring success story for effective conservation efforts. Shows what can be accomplished.
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I was under the same impression when I was growing up.
Very thankful for the recovery and especially the American Bald Eagle!
 
Gary Ward said:
Dentist says the discontinued use of DDT stopped the killing of birds of prey.
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DDT causes defects in calcium metabolism that results in improper egg shell formation and thus fragility which lead to eggs that didn't survive to hatch. This has been hypothesized as the leading cause of decline of certain bird populations that occurred in the late 60's and 70's. I remember an activist tee shirt from my yoot that read "DDT- Dead Ducks Tomorrow", with a picture of a diceased duck. Eagles, Osprey and other fish consuming birds were most susceptible because of concentration of the active breakdown products of DDT in larger fish higher up on the food chain. Similar to mercury accumulation in larger fishes such as tuna. In Louisiana, the state bird, the Brown Pelican, was nonexistant buy the latter '70's due to DDT (postulated). We repopulated the state with birds imported from Florida. I have witnessed the Bald Eagle population grow significantly in La. as well.
 
We had quite a few around a local airport early this summer. I met one on downwind- so close I could make out the individual talons as I passed under him.
 
I got a FAR closer look at two of them than I wanted this spring. There is one single lone giant cottonwood tree (like 5’ across) in the middle of two mile section my acerage is on. Every year there is a pair there (over the years the nest has gotten big enough I’m sure I could sit in it). This year we didn’t see any activity so the wife and kids and I decided to walk out closer to see if they are there…got probably 50 yards away with no signs of activity when a white head poped over the side then took off screeching and did two high speed low pass “gear down” approaches to within a few feet of my face. We grouped up tight, it flew back to the nest and we took the hint and started back to home. About 300 yards back a second one came diving out of the sky and was circling us about 50 agl until we got a good half mile from the tree. I will NOT ever be walking to that tree again.
 
Here where I live there was a nesting pair of Golden Eagles up in the mountain west of me. Every summer I could see them taking advantage of the updrafts, usually with 2 or 3 smaller Goldens with them.

I haven't seen them in a 5 or 6 years. They either passed or moved to another nesting spot,
 
robin ardoin said:
DDT causes defects in calcium metabolism that results in improper egg shell formation and thus fragility which lead to eggs that didn't survive to hatch. This has been hypothesized as the leading cause of decline of certain bird populations that occurred in the late 60's and 70's. I remember an activist tee shirt from my yoot that read "DDT- Dead Ducks Tomorrow", with a picture of a diceased duck. Eagles, Osprey and other fish consuming birds were most susceptible because of concentration of the active breakdown products of DDT in larger fish higher up on the food chain. Similar to mercury accumulation in larger fishes such as tuna. In Louisiana, the state bird, the Brown Pelican, was nonexistant buy the latter '70's due to DDT (postulated). We repopulated the state with birds imported from Florida. I have witnessed the Bald Eagle population grow significantly in La. as well.
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Flatiowa said:
I got a FAR closer look at two of them than I wanted this spring. There is one single lone giant cottonwood tree (like 5’ across) in the middle of two mile section my acerage is on. Every year there is a pair there (over the years the nest has gotten big enough I’m sure I could sit in it). This year we didn’t see any activity so the wife and kids and I decided to walk out closer to see if they are there…got probably 50 yards away with no signs of activity when a white head poped over the side then took off screeching and did two high speed low pass “gear down” approaches to within a few feet of my face. We grouped up tight, it flew back to the nest and we took the hint and started back to home. About 300 yards back a second one came diving out of the sky and was circling us about 50 agl until we got a good half mile from the tree. I will NOT ever be walking to that tree again.
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Wow!
Reminds of when we had purple martins during the summer as a kid. One year a baby martin fell out of the martin house overhead and our dog went over and sniffed it or ate it, I can't remember for sure .
I do remember for years later those martins dive bombed that dog. Summers after summers proving those birds come back to the same place every summer. Didn't seem to bother the dog .
 
My solo xc nearly hit one leaving MSN on my way to UES at 2700' agl. Probably 30 yards from a bad day.
 
Racerx said:
My solo xc nearly hit one leaving MSN on my way to UES at 2700' agl. Probably 30 yards from a bad day.
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I have had a close call with one down at 6i4 while turning base to final to 36. I saw his eyes looking at me and he dived down that time.
 
We live in Eagle Central here. North Idaho has a healthy year-round population, but in late November-early December, when untold thousands of Kokanee salmon return to Wolf Lodge Bay in Lake Coeur d'Alene to spawn, a LOT of migratory eagles descent on the bay to feast. Weekly eagle counts often exceed 300, and two years ago over 400 eagles were counted around the bay. It's quite a sight.

https://www.blm.gov/programs/fish-and-wildlife/wildlife/about/idaho/lake-coeurdalene-eagle-watch

In late November, the local SCUBA group makes a dive in the bay to watch the Kokanee. I missed it last year, but am looking forward to the dive this year.
 
They hang out on the seawall at KNUW pretty regularly, just down on the rocks. One afternoon I was taxiing out to the active, and no more than a couple feet off of the pavement, was an Eagle, just staring at me. It might have been the most patriotic moment of my life. He did not give a single F about the decibel level of my airplane a few feet away, or that I carry A/A missiles, or that I'm a fighter pilot. He knew I was a phony. He continued to just sit there, waiting for someone much more interesting, tasty, or dangerous to arrive.
 
35 AoA said:
They hang out on the seawall at KNUW pretty regularly, just down on the rocks. One afternoon I was taxiing out to the active, and no more than a couple feet off of the pavement, was an Eagle, just staring at me. It might have been the most patriotic moment of my life. He did not give a single F about the decibel level of my airplane a few feet away, or that I carry A/A missiles, or that I'm a fighter pilot. He knew I was a phony. He continued to just sit there, waiting for someone much more interesting, tasty, or dangerous to arrive.
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There was a goose 8' off the side of the runway couple weeks ago. She wouldn't budge, suspect she was sitting on eggs.
 
While we are talking about birds. Years ago before I started to pay attention to the birds of prey, this showed up on our front porch next to the bird feeder.
We thought he stopped to eat bird seed.
Minute after this picture was taken, he dove into that bush and came out with a small bird in his talons and flew away with it. We were a little stunned. I bet the small bird was too? lol
Later learned from our dentist that was a cooper bird hawk.
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Speaking of birds of prey. Ive got great horned owls in my woods. One morning I see on standing next to dad's pond. I knew what that meant. Probably at a poisoned critter. Sure enough the next day it was dead. Dad took it to the taxidermist to get a wicked cool mount. Taxidermist wasn't thrilled as it's not quite legal. But he did it under the guise he was just touching up a family heirloom

Please don't use bait blocks for your rodent problem.
 
Racerx said:
Please don't use bait blocks for your rodent problem.
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We're trying to attract barred owls to help with our rodent problem so that we don't have to use poison. No luck so far but it's only been a few weeks.

Nauga,
who's there
 
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