September 7
Good Morning
On my raptor day last week, I came across a juvenile Bald Eagle perched in a tree. I photographed it and then waited about one half hour to see if it was going to fly. It shuffled its position and flapped its wings bit but never really moved so I went on. About 100 meters down the road I saw bird chasing a magpie. I took some images of the action but most of it was behind a group of trees, I got enough images that I can piece together a tail and a wing and a head enough to make me think it was a Sharp-shinned Hawk. Regardless, it was fun to watch. As I waited for that action to continue, the bald eagle came into view, soaring in the same area. I switched my attention to the eagle which was soon joined by a second juvenile . They soared overhead for a few minutes before gaining altitude and moving of into the distance. They then began to engage in territorial behavior where they fly at a each other, spin in the air and lock talons. This is also courtship behavior. As these were just juveniles, I believe they were just practicing. Unfortunately, they were quite far away so the photos don’t do justice to the energy and intensity of the action.
I took one of the images I got and applied some photoshop magic to it to try to interpret the action for you.
Bald Eagles are like people; it takes a while to go “bald"! They start with dark feathered heads and each year they get a little whiter. It takes three to four years before there head feathers are all white or “bald"
Stay well
