bald eagle sighting!!

[wildman]

We have lots here on the big river, really around this time of year/

[4dog]

JDub,, why ya gotta get all proper and scientific,,killjoy!...lol...on a serious note i have heard recently that since they have made thos great comeback..hunts might actually be opening up for them...anyone else hear this??   would be a shame,cant kill a turkey vulture but ya might be able to kill a bald one?

[JW_Halverson]

JDub,, why ya gotta get all proper and scientific,,killjoy!...lol...on a serious note i have heard recently that since they have made thos great comeback..hunts might actually be opening up for them...anyone else hear this??   would be a shame,cant kill a turkey vulture but ya might be able to kill a bald one?

The Northern Arapaho in Wyoming got upset when one of their tribal members was prosecuted for killing eagles.  So, they sued the federal government for license to kill some eagles legally.  The Northern Arapaho share a reservation with a Shoshone group and those two tribes aren't whatcha call the closest of friends.  So the Feds gave the Arapaho permission to hunt eagles, knowing the Shoshone belief that killing an eagle was a high crime and spiritual bad juju.  The Shoshone would not permit eagle hunting on the reservation, and it was still illegal to hunt eagles elsewhere.  That's kinda where it sits now. 

No, there is no season on eagles. 

[4dog]

good

[SLIMBOB]

Started seeing a few back in the 90s on lake Ray Roberts in North Texas.  I see them now fairly regular.

[TRACY]

4dog you need to look up decorah Iowa eagle cam this spring and watch live video of the nest. Very cool real time video. They are awesome to to see. I see them almost everyday on my drive to school and back.

Tracy

[JW_Halverson]

Sometimes the off-season video from the Decorah eagle nest is just as exciting.  Forty feet up in a tree and there is a colony of mice that lives in the nest.  They feed on the scraps that the eagles left behind!  Someone told me they actually saw field mice in with the adults and half grown young.  Apparently mice are about the only thing a bald vult...erm, eagle will not stoop to eat!

There are a load of nest cams online, barn  owls, kestrels, great blue herons, etc.  The one I follow closely is the Cornel Lab of Ornithology's webcam on the grounds of Cornel University.  They have a pair of redtail  hawks that nest on a light structure over one of the parking lots.  Last year during a particularly nasty storm of rain and hail the male redtail approached the female protecting the eggs.  He lay over top of her and spread his wings to shelter her. 

[bubby]

why would the great hunter stoop to mice when he can steal, I mean liberate trout from you jdub

[JW_Halverson]

LOL!

[Swampman]

I live in Wabasha, MN, home of the National Eagle Center. There are eagles here all year long but this time of year they are everywhere as the Mississippi River stays open in the winter. I guess I am spoiled as I see eagles every day on my drive to and from work along the Mississippi River. I usually loose count of how many I see this time of the year.

[Marc St Louis]

They are fairly common up here.  Saw one 2 weeks ago which is unusual for this time of year

[Gsulfridge]

I just saw some Seahawks, does that count?

[Bone pile]

a few years ago I had one that would come down and grab the mullet I was using for bait.So there I am with an eagle on the end of my line,luckily I was able to pull the mullet away without snagging the bird.15 minutes later it grabbed another one ,that was it I moved let him catch his own bait
Bone

[killir duck]

i seen them every once and awhile up here, gold eagles are much more common i see a couple of them every week or so.

[Ed Brooks]

Here is a couple my daughter snapped a pic of a few hundred yards from my house hope you enjoy. Ed