On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 11:54:01 -0500, Norm Saunders wrote:

"This morning at Blackwater NWR, I had 2 adult Bald Eagles harrassing
an American Coot, presumably trying to tire it out..."

Yesterday morning from our house at Jug Bay I watched 3 coots, my first seen 
here in a long time.  We get them in fall migration, but usually its earlier than 
this.  Anyway, I enjoyed watching them but went to look at the feeders.  I 
came back to look at the river again a few minutes later, and there was an 
adult bald eagle carrying something as it landed on a log on the river bank.  I 
thought it was a duck, but a look with the scope proved it to be a coot.  The 
eagle's mate also landed nearby on the shore, about 20 feet away.  Its mate 
and I both watched as the eagle very carefully plucked the coot, starting at 
the rump and working forward along the belly, to just above the breast bone.  
Then it plucked the lower back and under wings.  This took about 3-4 minutes.

Then it began to eat.  It ate some organs first, but did not eat the intestine 
or stomach.  It dropped them on the ground and left them.  Then it ate the 
meat.  It was in no hurry, and took about 6-7 minutes to eat the meat off.  
Then it dropped the carcass, and flew over to its mate.  The mate never tried 
to grab any, or even move while the eagle was eating.  I wish I had video 
taped the scene, it was very interesting!

Cheers-
Jeff Shenot
Croom MD