There must be lots of bald eagles.

Maxmosbey

Final Approach
Joined
Aug 23, 2007
Messages
5,247
Location
San Juan, PR/Ames, IA
Display Name

Display name:
I need to get serious.
I'm just thinking that unless wind turbines are attracting bald eagles and somehow provoking them to commit suicide, to me this is a good indication that there are getting to be a lot of them around. I know that we have a lot of wind turbines in Iowa, and over the last couple of decades we have seen more and more bald eagles. I don't think that the two are related in any way, but when I was a kid we had to go to the zoo to see them. Now several of them live on the river right here in town. Just one more thing, if you happen to hit one with your car, can you be held responsible?

http://news.yahoo.com/study-wind-farms-killed-67-eagles-5-years-160226373.html
 
I'm just thinking that unless wind turbines are attracting bald eagles and somehow provoking them to commit suicide, to me this is a good indication that there are getting to be a lot of them around. I know that we have a lot of wind turbines in Iowa, and over the last couple of decades we have seen more and more bald eagles. I don't think that the two are related in any way, but when I was a kid we had to go to the zoo to see them. Now several of them live on the river right here in town. Just one more thing, if you happen to hit one with your car, can you be held responsible?

http://news.yahoo.com/study-wind-farms-killed-67-eagles-5-years-160226373.html

Bald Eagles are indeed making a fabulous recovery. In fact, there are so mnay of them that they are fighitng for nesting ground. I saw two bald eagles having what looked like an aerial dog fight outside of our hangar the other day. Either that or it was a male and a female doing male-female things. But I hate to see them get bopped by a giant windmill blade so maybe some genius can figure out a way to keep them out. I heard they are talking about making the blades even bigger so they turn slower. But I would think a giant chicken wire-type fense would keep them out and allow enough wind to pass through to keep the turbines spinning.
 
I was deer hunting along the river near Marshalltown back in Jan 2008 and there were several eagles circling around overhead. Apparently I was sitting near one of the few open water spots along the river. That's an eery sound when you hear a few of those things screeching overhead when everything else is dead silent in the woods.
 
I'm just thinking that unless wind turbines are attracting bald eagles and somehow provoking them to commit suicide, to me this is a good indication that there are getting to be a lot of them around. I know that we have a lot of wind turbines in Iowa, and over the last couple of decades we have seen more and more bald eagles. I don't think that the two are related in any way, but when I was a kid we had to go to the zoo to see them. Now several of them live on the river right here in town. Just one more thing, if you happen to hit one with your car, can you be held responsible?

http://news.yahoo.com/study-wind-farms-killed-67-eagles-5-years-160226373.html

The newer slow wind turbines are not an issue, it's the old ones that spun up 1800+rpm that were bird "Cuisinarts".
 
used to see Bald Eagles fairly regularly on the run between Fort Dodge and Ames. Passed one at 2500 ft in the 421 once, it didn't even flinch, just glanced over at me as if to say "WTF are you doing here?"
 
At the present time we have the pink salmon running and there are over 10,000 eagles in the Skagit river valley.

They have made a great recovery since the DDT was outlawed.
 
Leaving KTOP to the north takes you right over the river. Last time I gave my brother and nephew a ride in the mighty 172, we flew right over one.
 
Leaving KTOP to the north takes you right over the river. Last time I gave my brother and nephew a ride in the mighty 172, we flew right over one.

Never fly under one, they will panic, fold up and dive.
 
used to see Bald Eagles fairly regularly on the run between Fort Dodge and Ames. Passed one at 2500 ft in the 421 once, it didn't even flinch, just glanced over at me as if to say "WTF are you doing here?"
Recently I saw four at one time circling over Vancouver Lake at 1,000'. As I flew by it looked like one gave me an upraised middle feather.

They don't mind city life, either. I took this from the balcony of my condo in downtown Portland:

IMG_4026.JPG
 
Landed at Creve Coeur about a week ago and an eagle on the ground on the grass runway stood its ground as we taxied past. It was a golden eagle, however. Looked almost three feet tall standing erect as they do.
 
Never fly under one, they will panic, fold up and dive.

I've heard that about most birds. In this case, I had just taken off and was climbing to TPA when my brother saw one flying below us just over the river.
 
Landed at Creve Coeur about a week ago and an eagle on the ground on the grass runway stood its ground as we taxied past. It was a golden eagle, however. Looked almost three feet tall standing erect as they do.

One of my favorite sights was taxiing right past a red-tail hawk sitting on a taxi light. We eyeballed each other as I rolled by.

Birds of prey just look cool, no matter the size.
 
There is a charted wildlife refuge a few miles north of our airport. Pilots are requested not to overfly it below 2,000' AGL because it terrifies the birds and they will need counseling.

But it seems that a lot of the birds prefer being at the airport. This blue heron is so mentally scarred by airplanes that he likes to hang out next to the run-up area, and calmly stares while airplanes run up:

IMG_2519.JPG
IMG_1202.JPG


Then there are the geese ... :mad:

IMG_2410.JPG
P1040910.JPG


We hope this young lady will acquire a healthy taste for goose:

P1070761.JPG
 
One of my favorite sights was taxiing right past a red-tail hawk sitting on a taxi light. We eyeballed each other as I rolled by.

Birds of prey just look cool, no matter the size.

My second lesson I had a red tail hawk do the same to me but when I got closest to him he bowed up and ran at me about 3'

Down at our hunting land last year I saw 3 circling overhead and 2 in a tree at the same time.

As for ddt.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/2006/07/06/bald-eagle-ddt-myth-still-flying-high/

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4
 
At the present time we have the pink salmon running and there are over 10,000 eagles in the Skagit river valley.

They have made a great recovery since the DDT was outlawed.

In Sitka, AK they are more numerous than seagulls.

-Skip
 
I was upset when the feds delisted them from the endangered species list after a reported 4,000 breeding pairs were considered a goal. Once I realized there were still a number of laws covering their continued successful recovery, it became less onerous.
Did you know you could be fined as much as $100k and a year in jail for a first time offense for "disturbing, molesting, or taking" a bald or golden?
The Federal Fish and Game site has some great info on them.
The more the merrier....
 
I can't help noticeing how both cited articles are from the right-wing, corporate-friendly press....
 


"Worldwide more than 2,700 people will die today because of a bureaucratic regulation instituted...

...The regulation imposed by Nixon’s newly formed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned DDT, an insecticide that had until then saved the lives of countless U.S. citizens. " (Emphasis by me)

Countless, really? Didn't they just give the count?
 
Back
Top