Eagle stories

[Kerry Stratton]

After PETI great picture of his poacher I thought a thread on eagle stories would be interesting. Here is a story of one of my encounters with the feathery predator.

I had made about a half dozen casts in the run when an eagle passed directly over my right shoulder only a few feet up. The whoosh of his wings surprised me and focused my attention on him. He flew directly across the river from me where he dove into the water very near the edge of the river. Now I was totally focused on the eagle to the point of letting my line dangle for an extended period below me. What was that eagle doing? He had something but I couldn?t tell what. There was some kind of commotion going on over on the other side of the river.

My line had been dangling below me for some time now and a bull trout had decided to impale himself on my fly. Too much happening all of a sudden and I had more to do then my mind could keep track of. After stripping in the bull and releasing him I returned my attention to the commotion on the other side of the river.

The eagle had a 10 or 12 inch fish but there was something else over there also. A river otter! The eagle has stolen the river otter?s fish and the otter wanted it back. The eagle was on a snag hanging about 3 feet off the water eating the fish. The otter worked himself up on a lower limb and grabbed the fish. He dangled there trying to pull the fish from the eagle before falling into the river. Next the otter found his way up on the same snag the eagle was on and attempted a frontal assault but was quickly repelled by the eagle. Man this was fascinating. I was totally transfixed by the mini drama being played out across the river from me.

The otter made several more attempts at liberating his fish from the eagle. He tried hanging from the fish a couple more times and he tried taking on the eagle directly. All futile. After 5 minutes or so the drama ended with the otter giving up.

I would guest the otter went looking for another fish, the eagle ate the fish he had acquired from the otter and I resumed my fishing.

Not fishing related, but...When I worked as a volunteer at Wolf Haven, Randy, a caretaker, used to feed the Canada Geese out by the veterinary clinic. Everyday Randy would take a bucket of cracked corn and toss it out on the grass so the geese would find plenty of food.

Randy wanted to see the geese, with a couple of goslings, so he stepped around the corner of the building, camera in hand and was promptly hit square in the chest by a Canada Goose flying about chest high. The impact of Goose and Randy landed him flat on his back.

The next day Randy was back at the same corner, camera at the ready when he heard the wing beats of a goose. Deciding to scare the **&&^^% out of the goose, Randy jumped around the corner waving his arms. Instead of a Canada Goose, one of the biggest Bald Eagles I've ever seen was flying right for Randy at about chest high. The eagle just flipped his talons forward, scarring the *&^( out of Randy, who promptly fell backwards (into a mess of goose droppings) to escape the talons of that huge eagle.

Everytime someone mentions eagles, I get this vision of Randy waving his arms, and falling into a mess of goose droppings trying to avoid those talons. Didn't have a camera, but the image has stayed with me for years.

REE

[nomlasder]

One day fishing streamers for sockeye at the mouth of Anan Creek, south of Wrangell AK, an Adult Bald Eagle dove down into the back of a shallow hen and promptly took a dive into the water. After a few seconds of mad thrashing to extract the talons, the bird walked up the gravel bar to clean up and dry out, looking as embarrassed as a cat that falls off the dresser while asleep.

[PETI]

This shot was taken at Coldwater, near Mt. St Helens last year. The Osprey was being chased by the Eagle who was trying to relieve him of his dinner. This went on for several minutes right above me. The Osprey finally dropped the fish and a crow joined him in chasing off the eagle.
Later the Osprey returned, caught another and ate that one in peace.

Peter

[This message has been edited by PETI (edited 08 June 2005).]

[Kerry Stratton]

PETI, another very cool picture.

On Lopez Island years ago I was standing on a beach of that island when an Osprey came in and snagged a nice sized fish from the small bay bordoring the beach. As he flew up with his catch a bald eagle flew up to the Osprey turned upside down and flew under the Osprey and reaching up with his talons stealing the Osprey lunch. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen an eagle do. Sometimes I think they would rather steal a meal then catch one of their own.

[PETI]

Kinda like a politician??

[cea]

I've seen the Eagles do the upside-down-steal-the-fish-from-the-osprey move also. Those bald eagles surely would much rather steal lunch caught by another bird or animal than catch their own. I've seen the eagle's chasing osprey or other eagles to steal their fish and in doing so surely expending enough energy in the 10-15 minutes of chase and screeching that they could have caught a couple of fish on their own.
A few weeks ago, I was fishing from my float tube and heard a loud splash behind me. I looked to see just an osprey head sticking out of the water about 20 feet away. The osprey had hold of a decent cutthroat and sure had a tough time to get itself back out of the water. Eventually, it made it. Only wish I had a camera - the photo of just the bird's head out of the lake would have been great.

[Plain Old Jim]

I was fishing Christmas Tree Lake Saturday. At dusk an Osprey appeared over the lake near us...with about a 1 foot trout or larger hanging down....as he flew at times he lost altitude and the regained it. Nice picture above....but this one had a trout hanging so visible it was almost as big as the Osprey. Anywhoooo...my eagle story. Not a bald eagle. An American Eagle. I haven't seen that many Eagle in the wild so I envy you guys that have been around them more. Years ago I worked out in the high desert at a microwave site....325' tower. I was not supposed to set foot on it as a tech. I kept seeing rabbits and snakes hauled into top of tower. Climbed up all the way to the top and saw about a 6-8' nest of sticks at the base of a big horn antenna with two chicks in it. I am standing on a small platform and I suddenly hear a swoosh and turn and about a 6' wingspan coming at my chest...at the last minute it veered up and away. The fellow in the other thread talking about a spooky feeling. I know it well. I would then look up in the sky and see nothing...but as I approached the nest again swoosh....same thing again...almost knocked me off the tower. Don't know where this thing was coming from cause I coundn't see it. Well, I saw it up high when I was climbing up, but after I got up there I couldn't see it. But before it would swoosh I would look for it but not find it. But every time I approached the nest in she came, wings at her side diving at me! I really really know that spooky feeling. Anyway I went back down the tower and left them alone.

Jim

On Lake Gogebic in the Western U.P. (That's Michaigan folks) there's a pair of Bald Eagles that watch the fishermen and when they hook up one of those 'Hammer Handles" (a 12 - 14 inch pike that swollows a 7" Rapella and return it to the lake to die they swoop down for a free meal. They will follow the boats along the North West shore. Just set in the trees and watch. Maybe not lazy, just smart.

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Cactus

[backbeach]

A couple of years ago about this time of year I saw an immature Bald Eagle grab a small bluefish off the beach at Race Point. A surfcaster had tossed the fish behind him above the tideline to keep, and the opportunistic bird swooped in and scored lunch. The blue was about 3 or 4 lbs and the bird could barely clear the beach as if struggled up to the edge of the dune grass. I took out the 35mm camera and creeped up to take a few shots of him feeding and by the time I got close enough to get a cold glare from him, he had picked one side pretty clean... The surfcaster was puzzled about his dissappearing bluefish, it was funny watching him look around, and around....for his catch. I eventually told him what happened, and he had a laugh too...