Eagle-Duck drama at Black Hill RP

February 7, 2009

 

Today my friend Martin Stephens and I were watching birds from the
observation deck at the Black Hill Regional Park visitor center. There were
many ducks and geese on the lake, most either resting at the edges of the
melting ice or swimming on the open water. We kept an occasional eye on the
pair of Bald eagles who have frequented the lake for 8 years according to
the staff here. Around 10:40am the pair were on their familiar bare tree
near the causeway about a mile away, and shortly after we positioned our
spotting scopes on them, one launched in our direction. The eagle flew with
purpose, inches above the ice, pelican-style. A lone male Bufflehead swam in
a narrow space between two swaths of ice, and the eagle was headed straight
for him. As the massive raptor drew near, he rose up and stalled briefly
over the duck before dropping down toward him. Naturally, the duck dove
beneath the water. Soon the eagle was joined by his/her mate, and over the
ensuing five minutes the pair made several swooping attempts at the duck,
who became visibly more frantic with each dive. The tandem's coordinated
attacks were allowing the duck only a few seconds to breathe before being
forced again beneath the surface in a splashing manner nothing like the
arcing dive they usually make. At one point, an eagle plummeted onto the
water less than a second after the duck descended, and we weren't sure if
the duck might be pulled up, but the eagle arose with empty talons. In
apparent desperation, the duck took flight, accelerating low over the water
and ice. One of the eagles was at this moment standing at the edge of the
ice, but the airborne one took chase immediately. At first, the smaller duck
opened up some distance on the lumbering eagle, but once the latter's huge
wings got into high gear the distance soon narrowed. As the eagle closed
within about ten feet, the pair disappeared behind a bay. We waited with
baited breath. Fifteen seconds on, the Bufflehead reappeared at full tilt.
The eagle, no doubt outmaneuvered, had fallen behind another twenty feet but
had not given up. As they flew closer, the eagle got within about ten feet
then suddenly pulled up to perch on a shoreline pine. 

 

That's one Bufflehead who'll have a tale to tell his ducklings this spring.

 

Other birds seen/heard on the outing:

 

Pied-billed grebe

Tundra swan

Canada goose

American black duck

Mallard

American wigeon

Canvasback

ring-necked duck

Common goldeneye

Hooded merganser

Common merganser

Ruddy duck

Black vulture

Turkey vulture

Red-shouldered hawk

Red-tailed hawk

American coot

Ring-billed gull

Mourning dove

Blue Jay

American crow

Fish crow

Carolina chickadee

Tufted titmouse

White-breasted nuthatch

Carolina wren

Northern cardinal

Song sparrow

White-throated sparrow

Dark-eyed junco

House finch

Pine siskin

House sparrow

 

 

Jonathan Balcombe

Germantown, MD

Cell: 301-466-2982

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 <http://www.pleasurablekingdom.com/> www.pleasurablekingdom.com

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