This made my day...

[harryball]

I walked out in the back yard today and what should I see... a Bald Eagle? Nope, try TWO! I wish I could have gotten better video but even so, they were majestic. I have NEVER seen Bald Eagles in Georgia out in the wild. It's a good sign. And I needed it today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6zSLBfmwsw

/RB

[John David]

The one with the dark head is a juvinile, it takes up to five years to get their white head and tail feathers. Looks like maybe they are looking for fish in the pond.
VERY COOL? I live in Minnesota and see eagles all the time and im just like a kid when i do.
Thank sfor sharing the video

Jd

[gene]

Just my luck, you see Eagles all i saw today was a flock of turkeys

[myxpykalix]

Thats nothing....everyday i come to this forum i get to talk to a bunch of "Old Buzzards":D

[harryball]

Thats nothing....everyday i come to this forum i get to talk to a bunch of "Old Buzzards":D

Hey, I resemble that remark!

[Brian Harnett]

They made a big comeback in NY we have a nest a mile down the road.

[harryball]

I've seen them in the wild in other states, but until now never saw them in my own state. I can't explain why, but something about seeing them just gave me a boost.

Thanks for the comments, glad you guys are enjoying them too.

I'm researching how to make a nesting site for them.

[jhedlund58]

We have seen a resurgance of them in Illinois too. Amazing what happense when you stop spraying DDT... Maybe the EPA got this one right!!!

And, I am having request for batt houses in past year. Maybe a fad, but with all small private ponds around people are starting to care about controlling insects naturally.

[myxpykalix]

Hmmm...I wonder if they taste like Chicken...:confused:

[jerry_stanek]

I heard they they taste a like a cross between a California Condor and a Peregrine Falcon

[Greybarn]

Maybe if you stock the pond with some trout they will visit more often!

[burchbot]

We can all learn a lesson from the Bald Eagle. America was designed to soar above the rest. Adversely will make us stronger if we don’t forget who we are.

[bleeth]

They are common down here and in many states. I don't think there are any that they don't exist. Nesting platforms are made here by just putting a big flat platform on top of a utility pole.
Note they are not adverse to scavenging and will go after chickens, roosters, small livestock, and pets.

[harryball]

They are common down here and in many states. I don't think there are any that they don't exist. Nesting platforms are made here by just putting a big flat platform on top of a utility pole.
Note they are not adverse to scavenging and will go after chickens, roosters, small livestock, and pets.

Yep, you see the chickens hiding under their coop. They will also eat bats too.

[harold_weber]

Here is something that may interest you::

http://shop.themountain.me/bat-head/

[jdervin]

Do those eagles pose a threat to bats in any way?

[abentley]

Check out this and there two more about 10 miles up the Allegheny River. They are a awesome bird!
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/02/27/2-bald-eagles-build-nest-in-citys-hays-neighborhood/

[Brady Watson]

We moved an hour South of where we were before...Just as we were packing up the last load to take from the old house, 2 eagles were flying above. We had not seen them before this. I took it as a positive omen. After about a month in the new place, we were talking and I stopped mid-sentence in disbelief...There was an eagle coming straight up the back lane towards the sunroom only about 15' off the ground! It was an amazing sight!

Now...we see them all the time! In fact, I've almost clipped a few of them with the truck on occasion where they were sweeping down on the street to pick up a piece of roadkill. There are a lot more waterways and estuaries down here, so there are more eagles. The closer you get to the estuaries the more you find the big nests, which you can see from the road a lot of times. Definitely a pretty cool sight!

And...Robert, I thought of you the other day...It was around 3PM, I'm coming back from the post office and I saw a bat flying around...sun was lighting up his thin wings...Not sure if seeing him during the day was a good thing or not. ...could be rabies...could have been startled...One may never know.

-B

[harryball]

....
And...Robert, I thought of you the other day...It was around 3PM, I'm coming back from the post office and I saw a bat flying around...sun was lighting up his thin wings...Not sure if seeing him during the day was a good thing or not. ...could be rabies...could have been startled...One may never know.
-B

Sounds like WNS, White Nose Syndrome. Causes the bats to come out early and during the day looking for food. They essentially starve to death because a fungus disrupts their hibernation. It was confirmed to be in Georgia as of this year. Millions of bats have died from it.

[kartracer63]

Robert,

We live on a chain of lakes in northern Wisconsin. In the summer, I see eagles every day. It's not unusual for the crows to gang up on the eagles.

Last summer, I heard a bunch of crow noise down near the water. I went down onto the dock and saw that the crows had beaten an eagle down into the water. The eagle defended itself while in the water for several minutes before the crows left it alone. The eagle sat there in the water for quite some time resting before paddling with its wings back to shore. It sat on the shore line for about 10 minutes before taking flight again. That poor eagle wasn't in flight for 15 seconds before the crows were swooping down on it again. They're beautiful birds, and even though I see them every day, I still get excited to see them.

The next time I heard that much noise from the crows, there was a black bear swimming just passed the end of our dock.

And Jack... I can tell you that Eagle tastes just like Loon.

[gene]

Eric , Thats what a 22 lr with a scope was made for , Crows.

[bleeth]

In 1975 a law was proposed in Wisconsin to define the bounty method on several "pest" animals but crows were stricken out of it. Used to have crow bounties all over the place going all the way back to 1500's England. I think the last couple were in Cal and Michigan but they are gone now. It's actually illegal to kill them as they are protected under the Federal Migratory Bird Act. That would be another law of unintended consequences!! Efforts to have them, magpies, and starlings excepted have met with stiff resistance from.......well-you can guess who!

Recently, on another animal bounty note, they declared an open season with bounty for killing Pythons in the Everglades. The overall program, running for a couple months or so and attracting 100's of so called "hunters" (most were amateurs with guns but had no idea how to track a snake or what it was really like slogging through the Glades) didn't bag too many.

[myxpykalix]

Come on Dave, yu wouldn't want to kill Heckle & Jeckle would you?:eek:
That's the only Magpies I know!:D

[bleeth]

I'll quote what an old landlord said to me when I was talking to him one day and commented on the Bald Eagle circling overhead:

"Yeah, they're protected too. Last week that son of a B****h carried off my 12 pound rooster. If he gets close enough I'll protect him with my shotgun."

Since that rooster woke me up every morning at 4AM I didn't share his feelings but I sure understood them.

[gene]

I would just tell anyone that found one that the crow shot itsself

[Xray]

Very nice, I have only seen one once in MI. Not even sure it was an eagle, if it wasn't it was the largest hawk I have ever seen.
One time at my house in metro Detroit every bird in the neighborhood was was squawking bloody murder, it was crazy. Me and my dog looked at each other like "WTF is going on here ??" I ran to the back door where most of the commotion seemed to be coming from, looked around and couldn't really see anything, but every bird I could see or hear was in an absolute frenzy, like there were flying cats or something.
Then I noticed some birds swarming a nearby tree, I scanned the tree and there sat the biggest owl I have ever seen. It was calmly sitting there gazing around while every other bird on the block was having a heart attack. Obviously, none of these birds wanted to be the owls lunch, and since its cover was blown so badly, it flew away after a few minutes.

[cowboy1296]

But headed to Alaska in Sept and hope to see more

[ssflyer]

We have quite a few Bald and Golden Eagles here in Napa County, California. Pretty awesome to watch one take a fish in the creek behind the house!

As far as crows go, they are how I used to pay for my 22lr shells when I was a kid. $0.25 bounty. Now they are protected...

@Rick - you're guaranteed to see a bunch in Alaska, along with some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen!

[beacon14]

Great video Robert! I get excited to see the occasional hawk (http://youtu.be/JZ77yzMLKz8) here in suburbia. Coincidentally this morning I stepped outside for a moment to talk to my employee, and about 50 feet away two large red-headed woodpeckers alit on either side of a decaying tree trunk, in perfect silhouette in the morning light. They only stayed for a few moments as I fumbled for my cell phone camera but it was very cool to see something so unusual and so striking.

Keep that camera handy!

[gerryv]

When we were kids we came across a very young great horned owl on a low branch when out hunting with our Dad. We kept its attention and he snuck up behind it and caught it in his shirt. About two weeks later we got another one pretty much the same way. We had them for years but they sure as heck could never be called tame. We fed them live crows, rabbits and fish mostly. We made up long tethers out of braided fishing line and would put them in an open area on a fence post. It didn't take the crows long to "smell owl" and show up in droves. That's how we got a lot of practice for trap and skeet shooting. The local social club had a stuffed crow made into a trophy and ran an annual competition for most crows bagged. Our owls gave a couple of local fellas a pretty unfair advantage. We had them about 10-12 years I guess. When the last one died we measured its wingspan at 55". I don't think doing that would "fly" these days :-)

[Brian Harnett]

Went for a walk today and took a few pictures
http://harnettdesigns.lenzus.com/content/30891110/r/s_88876420.jpg

http://harnettdesigns.lenzus.com/content/30891110/r/s_63046420.jpg

http://harnettdesigns.lenzus.com/content/30891110/r/s_37216420.jpg

http://harnettdesigns.lenzus.com/content/30891110/r/s_85566420.jpg