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Eagle Feeding

2K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  Nutty Ned 
#1 ·
It was quite foggy this AM and still so at 1000; but I went out looking for ducks.

I found a flock of Ruddy Ducks across from the boat ramp on one of the local creeks and managed to get in close enough to get a 3 shot double. I then farted around looking elsewhere, no other ducks.

I then went back and the flock was back, but, closer to a long mud flat. So, I did a sneak and they swam up toward the mud flat and finally flushed
onto the mud flat and according to the plan, but, could not find the way out because it extends into a swamp. They came back at me about Mach II and almost over the boat. I swung on them and got two for one shot, then fell down. I had to shoot one again and was farting around getting the motor started to pick them up, when a Bald Eagle swooped down and snatched one of the ducks.

I mean why my duck?
 
#5 ·
Interesting. Was the duck still alive?

When we were in Alaska we hiked into a back country, pond probably 10 acres in size and we were fly fishing. There were two Eagles also working it as well. We were catching some small grayling and every now and then an eagle would swoop down and come out with a foot long trout. They are a magnificent bird and quite a sight to see.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Bald Eagles are notorious thieves. They're also scavengers and carrion eaters. They'll always take the easy meal when and wherever they can get it. Have watched them and given tours to folks who want to watch them, back in the day. (I was a birding guide for a local bird sanctuary.) Golden Eagles are much more of a true hunter. Would have been a better national bird in my estimation.

In the spring, have seen Bald Eagles herding large flocks of geese. The eagle will swoop low over the flock and get the geese moving (eagles make geese very nervous). The eagle will then circle back, looking for any goose lagging behind or unable to move. If the wounded or weak goose is too lively, the eagle or eagles will just perch and wait until the wounded goose is too weak to put up any resistance. Once saw an eagle approach a goose that was still very much alive, though. The eagle moved in on the goose and got more than it bargained for. The goose whacked that eagle with its wings, but good, and the eagle made a quick escape to a nearby tree to wait until the goose was a bit less frisky. :)

I should mention that I've had the same thing happen to me when duck hunting, back in the day, with certain species of hawks. Once lost a Green-wingded Teal to a Harrier, the same way. The teal fluttered down onto a winter wheat field and before I could get to it, the Harrier dragged into a nearby swamp that was beyond my reach. Funny how those incidents stay with you many years, later.
 
#10 ·
A friend I was in the Navy with was stationed in Adak Alaska and they have a lot of Bald Eagles there. He said when he first got there he was impressed with them and thought they were beautiful. But after a while they were just big annoying birds. And they seemed to like getting into the trash cans and dumpsters. But he said one day his impression of the great bird took a serious nose dive. The base sewage treatment plant had a major problem and they were forced to dump raw sewage into the ocean. The eagles started circling over head and would swoop down and grab something floating and every once in a while would fly away with a wet toilet paper flag flapping in the breeze. They are indeed scavengers.
 
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