Hi all,

Bradley Cernohorsky and I observed a Golden Eagle (either immature or
early subadult) this morning at Paper Mill Flats in Baltimore County.
For those familiar with the spot, we were standing on the southern
shore of the flats (close to the bridge on Paper Mill Road). The bird
was perched in a tree at almost twelve o'clock, directly across from
us.  We observed the bird perched for 30-40 minutes (approx.
9:45-10:15), before a group of crows finally harassed it into flight.
The bird circled above the water a few times, chased by the crows,
before flying off over the ridge in a NNE direction.

The bird came to our attention while we were observing an immature
Bald Eagle flying out across the water. The Bald Eagle flew up into a
tree and as I followed it with my bins I noticed another large hawk
perched in a nearby tree.  The two birds were perched only about 20
yards away from each other.  Bradley got his scope on the Golden and
we compared the two birds for a few minutes before the Bald Eagle flew
off, not to return.  While perched, the Bald showed a lot of white
speckled throughout its outer feathers, and its head looked visibly
larger than the Golden's.  The Golden, on the other hand, was uniform
brown on its outer feathers, with the golden nape and crown showing
very clearly in good light.  Pale undertail coverts were visible in
perched position. The bird's bill appeared light yellow in color.

Once the bird finally flew, we had good looks at it from both below
and above, as it was harassed by the crows.  The white tail with wide
dark terminal band was very clear from both above and below (the tail
was spread and the white clearly went to the side edges); however, the
white patches in the wings were not as distinct, indicating that
perhaps the bird was an early subadult.  The underwing coverts were
otherwise dark, not showing any of the white patterning seen in
juvenile and subadult Bald Eagles.

We took some really poor digiscoped photos of the perched bird using
my cell phone camera.  Unfortunately the bird didn't stay around long
enough in the air for us to get a photo of it in flight.

Photos can be viewed here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/18246901@N00/sets/72157625300547489/with/5190349172/

We took three photos; I used an 'unsharp mask' filter to sharpen them
a little, but the originals are posted as well.

I am not experienced enough to try to age the bird precisely, and I
would guess these photos would make a definitive age ID nearly
impossible.  Still, I'd be interested if anyone has any thoughts.

Apparently there have been a few other reports of possible Golden
Eagle(s) in the general area (Loch Raven, Cromwell Valley Park), so
hopefully this bird will stick around for a little while for others to
see.

Other highlights at the flats:

Wilson's Snipe        14
Northern Shoveler   1
Green-winged Teal   2
American Black Duck  X

Good birding,

Sean Stewart
Baltimore, MD