Yesterday, (January 27th), during a forty minute walk between Belmont Lake and Round Lake north of Havelock, I enjoyed a nice bit of eagling, (if that is indeed a word). First, along came a lovely 4th winter Bald Eagle at only about 150 m above the ground. She flew right overhead, and headed north and out of my sight. A little while later, two perched ravens drew my attention to a fairly high 2nd winter Bald Eagle as it soared higher and higher, as the curious ravens stared at the ascending eagle. Not long after that, I was back home and sipping a coffee on the front porch when I spotted another eagle to the west. This bird, too, seemed quite high, and appeared not to be soaring, but instead, looked to be “hanging” suspended by the stiff north breeze. Binoculars were only useful enough to be able to tell that it was a Golden Eagle, but it was not until I got the scope on it, that I could see that it was in fact an adult bird. It even hovered a couple of times, (not unlike a kestrel or Rough-legged Hawk often does). I have seen Goldens do this before, but not very often. It appeared to be actively hunting though, and remained in my sight for more than twenty minutes. It was doing what I refer to as a “staircase stoop”, in which with partly closed wings, the bird drops maybe fifty meters, then levels off again, then drops again, and then levels off once more. Too far away for photos, but plenty of fun to watch regardless. Despite another nice day today, a similar walk did not produce any eagles.
Tim Dyson, Cordova Lake
Bald Eagle – 4th winter – 27-01-15 – Tim Dyson
Adult Golden Eagle photographed at Petroglyph Provincial Park (Tim Dyson)
