Eagles at the Pond

The eagle suffers little birds to sing, 

And is not careful what they mean thereby, 

Knowing that with the shadow of his wings 

He can at pleasure stint their melody...

~William Shakespeare, from Titus Andronicus

[Photos added when I find them on the disks]

1-31-20

I've seen the eagles at the ponds on Witter Lane a number of times. I can almost count on seeing them on a misty/foggy morning. So I wasn't really expecting to see any eagles this morning. It was sunny and bright.

But there it was - high above the tank at the corner. When the eagle is watching there seem to be fewer birds around. I've yet to see one with prey. But all seem to keep watch. I've seen flocks fly over and make a detour as if thinking better of stopping where the eagle waits.

How far away is the eagle from the road where I've stopped. It's a ways.

Even at this distance, there is no doubt what is perched at the top of the tree.

2-15-20

While scoping out locations where the Spotted Chorus Frog had called in the past I discovered the juvenile Bald Eagle perched over the pond. The other birds were "aflutter" as you can imagine.

Because of the way the bird was perched, I managed to get a (bad) photo from front and back.

2-16-20

I led a group to hear the Spotted Chorus Frog and the Bald Eagle showed up - twice. In preparing for this little gathering I made a number of trips to the ponds last week...so I also saw the juvenile Bald Eagle once. Those photos are not the best, but I will post if I can find them again.

Mid-morning:

 Afternoon:

My friend shared his photos of the eagle. He got some doozies!*

February 18, 2020

Another misty day and the eagle threw its head back and looked like it was howling. I wonder if the proper terminology is "vocalizing."

October 2019

[Yes -- this is out of chronological order. I just want to save all the eagle shots somewhere. I didn't blog about it back in October so I'm catching up.]

On the way to the clay on a dreary foggy day, I stopped in at the ponds. MAGIC!

I noticed one adult that called and flew away. I stopped for photos of the juvenile. Then both adults came and one appeared to be trying to "set the young'un straight." Kids don't listen.

This is the dismal day that taught me eagles like this nasty weather. This is how far away they were. The adults are to the left and above. The juvenile is the lowest.

"I thought I told you that you could not leave the nest!"

"Yeah, I did too!"

Juvenile: "You guys talking to me?"

Here are the other shots saved from that day (the adults stopped yelling - really a kind of peeping - and just gave me some "eagle" poses:

Even though the photos are not the best technically, the experience stays with me. Now I try to head out to the ponds when the day is misty and dim...and there is often at least one eagle waiting.



NOTES:

* Photos by Hunter Yarborough - all rights reserved. These three are his from a bright day when we were out to hear some frogs, but more than a few birds came calling. The rest of the photos are mine.