On the Chincoteague Christmas Count this past Dec. 29th Jared Sparks and
I watched an adult  Bald Eagle "hover" many times while trying to catch a 
Hooded
Merganser. We didn't time the various hovering sallies, but several were
probably lasted more than 30 seconds. The whole episode of the eagle trying
to catch the merganser continued for more than 15 minutes, with the eagle
finally calling it quits with the merganser surviving for another day.

Technically the eagle wasn't hovering because there was a light head wind
from the direction the eagle faced while "hovering".  Red-tailed Hawks will
do this, especially in mountainous conditions where there is often an updraft.

Charlie


>The  eagle hovered over the opening with the canvasback surfacing VERY
>briefly and  diving again.  This repeated several times, and the patient 
>eagle
>continued to hover for well over a minute before finally grabbing 
>the  canvasback.
>
>
>Dave,
>  I wasn't aware that eagles "hovered".  Could you please  elaborate on the
>behavior you saw?
>
>Rick Sussman
>Ashton,MD
>
>

Charles Vaughn
1306 Frederick Avenue
Salisbury, MD 21801

410-742-7221
 




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