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Golden Eagle Blackwater

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Joanne Howl

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Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:37:35 -0500

Today I found a life bird - and it was spectacular.???There was a Golden Eagle chasing flocks of snow and Canada geese in the fields near and to the right?of the entrance to?the visitor center (as you face the center).? We watched from the main road, not the visitor center.? 

We saw the eagle fly in from a distance, swoop down and scatter the geese.? It returned and made another pass, then turned and pursued several geese low over the fields.? It pulled up, turned and hit the ground, talons first, as if it had struck something.?One of us thought he saw some feathers fly from the ground, and then the?eagle?grabbed and hopped, as if he was on a kill of some sort,?but when it rose it had nothing.? It then landed in a small tree, nearby, off to the right of the field and, off-balance, spread it's wings and tail, teetering a bit while outstretched.? The field marks - especially the bright white tail with the wide black band and the white patches toward the end of the wings were clearly visible. The bird had?a few very?small white blotches in other spots both under wing and on the back of the wings.?

It steadied itself and then flew off to the right, away from the visitor center, low over the field.? A Northern Harrier rose up from the field, flew next to the Golden, and appeared to strike at it and then fell behind.? A Bald Eagle streaked into view from the left of the field, flying low and very, very fast, directly toward the Golden.? The Golden picked up a little speed, exited the grassy field and went over a scrubbier area.? The Bald Eagle flew (pursued?) to the edge of the grassy field, turned sharply upward and - more slowly but still with some speed - flew back towards the visitor's center.? From my description, the volunteer at the center suggested that the Bald Eagle may well have been one of the breeding pair, as they are, apparently, getting rather territorial. It may also be possible that while the Golden was regrouping in the tree, that he spied the Bald coming to drive him off his prey.?? We did not see the Bald Eagle return to the presumed kill site, but then again, we were watching the Golden pretty closely. 

This is my first Golden, so I went into the visitor's center and examined the specimens they have there.? The stuffed Golden has a few small white or light spots on the back of the wing, as did this bird, and all else was a complete match.? This bird did not have the marks of a juvenile bald, both from the specimens and from my experience.? To clinch it, I found a photo on the web?taken from a photographer who visited at Blackwater on Jan 3 - exactly the same marks, if not exactly the same bird.?

We also located a Ross' goose among a flock of Canada Geese, also along the main road.? 

Our luck was so good, we looked for a rainbow so we could follow it to find the pot of gold at the end .... but alas, we'd run out of luck and daylight, so we headed home. 

Joanne

Joanne Howl, DVM
West River, MD