# Saw an eagle yesterday



## georgepds (Mar 20, 2017)

Probably not the spot for this.. but hey.. it's green

I was heading downriver.. he was heading up river. A mature bird with an all white head and a huge wing span. He was flying low to the river, maybe two meters up, probably hunting for fish. Really, if you have not seen an eagle in free flight,  do so, they are magnificent creatures. I'm glad I lived long enough to share the neighborhood with one. He was the first one I saw in free flight so close he could pose for  a picture on a postage stamp

When I was young, there were no large birds around here.. no geese, no turkeys, no osprey, no egrets, and certainly, no eagles. The rivers and streams were all too foul to breed (well that and DDT) . All we had were gulls, pigeons, and shore rats, you know..  garbage eaters.

I'll miss them all when the EPA is dismantled and the rivers all turn to chemical swamps again


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## begreen (Mar 20, 2017)

We are lucky enough to have several bald eagles locally. They are beautiful birds.


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## Jan Pijpelink (Mar 20, 2017)

For the last 3 years we have a pair of bald eagles nesting across the street, where is a small lake.


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## peakbagger (Mar 21, 2017)

There is problem now that eagles are so abundant impacting other threatened species. Despite the PR they can be the bullies of the neighborhood, they will gladly attack ospreys to steal the ospreys catch rather than catch then on their own.


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## Chimney Smoke (Mar 21, 2017)

There are lots of bald eagles in Maine now.  As a kid I don't ever remember seeing them.  Now there's a few pair on ever body of water.  We see them a lot in the winter when we're ice fishing.


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## sportbikerider78 (Mar 21, 2017)

georgepds said:


> I'll miss them all when the EPA is dismantled and the rivers all turn to chemical swamps again



To give the EPA credit for all that is right with the environment would be the same as discrediting the EPA for all that is wrong with the environment.  

They never left upstate NY.  I'm 38 and I've seen Ospreys, bald eagles, hawks, white tailed eagles...ect my entire life. If you get out of the cities you see all of these birds...have for my entire life.  Clean water, rivers and streams are something I've grown up with.


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## georgepds (Mar 21, 2017)

sportbikerider78 said:


> To give the EPA credit for all that is right with the environment would be the same as discrediting the EPA for all that is wrong with the environment.
> 
> They never left upstate NY.  I'm 38 and I've seen Ospreys, bald eagles, hawks, white tailed eagles...ect my entire life. If you get out of the cities you see all of these birds...have for my entire life.  Clean water, rivers and streams are something I've grown up with.





Maybe your area is different.  I'm 65.. In the 50s and 60s  and 70syou never saw the flocks of turkeys or canada geese, and never an eagle


I suspect the young and middle age don't know what it was like before the epa. I remember the fanatics paddling upriver and plugging illegal waste lines.


In Boston in the 70s you could catch a disease that resembled the clap by falling into the Charles. If you swam in the harbor you first looked for Boston brownfish. The local pines disappeared or drooped  in a miasma of coal plant fired sulphuric acid rain.. even in your area I think. That all stopped because of epa regs... then the birds returned

But hey... we'll find out soon enough . And can I ask... do you really mean city dwellers don't deserve clean water?


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## georgepds (Mar 21, 2017)

peakbagger said:


> There is problem now that eagles are so abundant impacting other threatened species. Despite the PR they can be the bullies of the neighborhood, they will gladly attack ospreys to steal the ospreys catch rather than catch then on their own.




I'm glad I live in a world that has such problems

You know, Ill count myself lucky if I live to see top avian predators duking it out

Beats the gull and pigeon crap any day of the week


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## Lake Girl (Mar 21, 2017)

I know some of the eagles are back from their winter vacation to the south ... heard one call about a week ago but didn't get to see it.  They are the top of the food chain for birds ... they are opportunists and called scavengers for a reason.  It is those qualities that brought the issues of DDT to the forefront.  Without that science, humans would be experiencing more significant health issues if use had been continued unabated.

As to the other rare birds, the answer seems to be rejuvenation of fish stocks since management of eagle population would run afoul of the protection act.


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## georgepds (Mar 21, 2017)

Lake Girl said:


> ....It is those qualities that brought the issues of DDT to the forefront.  Without that science, humans would be experiencing more significant health issues if use had been continued unabated......



When I was a kid (50s) I lived a block north of a very large brackish pond ( maybe 1 mile long 1/3 mile wide). To keep the mosquitos down they'd send large DPW trucks with DDT sprayers down the streets. I remember cavorting in the spray, and running to follow the trucks

Probably explains a bit about later personal development


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## Lake Girl (Mar 21, 2017)

georgepds said:


> DPW trucks with DDT sprayers down the streets. I remember cavorting in the spray, and running to follow the trucks


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## begreen (Mar 22, 2017)

sportbikerider78 said:


> To give the EPA credit for all that is right with the environment would be the same as discrediting the EPA for all that is wrong with the environment.
> 
> They never left upstate NY.  I'm 38 and I've seen Ospreys, bald eagles, hawks, white tailed eagles...ect my entire life. If you get out of the cities you see all of these birds...have for my entire life.  Clean water, rivers and streams are something I've grown up with.


Not so obvious to those living a bit west near Love Canal.


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## Lake Girl (Mar 23, 2017)

While certain animals/birds may always be present in an area, the larger concern would be the size and health of that population.  MNR continually does aerial surveys for moose/deer/etc. locally so herd sizes can be estimated.  My nephew used to do the flying for these surveys...  The same types of surveys are done involving eagles and with the noted deleterious effects of a larger convocation.

Interesting the DDT ban and Love Canal were in the 70s.  A more recent investigation that involved the EPA, pesticides and unexplained tourist deaths in Southeast Asia https://www.wired.com/2014/03/dead-tourists-and-a-dangerous-pesticide/    And then there's Flint... http://wunc.org/post/flint-water-crisis-whistleblower-continues-fight-water-rights#stream/0


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## Easy Livin’ 3000 (Mar 23, 2017)

peakbagger said:


> There is problem now that eagles are so abundant impacting other threatened species. Despite the PR they can be the bullies of the neighborhood, they will gladly attack ospreys to steal the ospreys catch rather than catch then on their own.



I saw eagles and ospreys competing for the stupid stocked hatchery trout right after the stocking in a local lake last year. Never saw either bird for the first 30 years of my life on the same lake.


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## iamlucky13 (Mar 24, 2017)

Some of the places I go hiking, it's more common to see several bald eagles than to see none. It's almost hard to believe they were recently endangered.



georgepds said:


> I'll miss them all when the EPA is dismantled and the rivers all turn to chemical swamps again



I've noticed many people have wildly exaggerated expectations for what a single administration can accomplish, especially given the current one mostly focuses on rolling back a single previous administration's policies.

I'm trying to avoid debating policy here, and just point out that the extent of the policies that can realistically be enacted are limited, especially given the president's shaky relationship with the courts and even his own party in Congress.

If environmental law reverted entirely to 2008, we'd still be in a radically different position from the era when the Clean Air and Water Acts were passed.


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## georgepds (Mar 24, 2017)

iamlucky13 said:


> Some of the places I go hiking, it's more common to see several bald eagles than to see none. It's almost hard to believe they were recently endangered.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I hope you are right

G


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## SlyFerret (Mar 25, 2017)

We have an eagle family across the road (Mamma, Pappa, and three young ones about a year old now).  It is really cool seeing them flying around over the fields hunting.

I've noticed a distinct difference in the coyote behavior patterns in the area since the eagles moved in.  I think the eagles out pressure on the prey in the area and made the coyotes largely hunt in another direction.

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk


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## begreen (Mar 27, 2017)

SlyFerret said:


> We have an eagle family across the road (Mamma, Pappa, and three young ones about a year old now).  It is really cool seeing them flying around over the fields hunting.
> 
> I've noticed a distinct difference in the coyote behavior patterns in the area since the eagles moved in.  I think the eagles out pressure on the prey in the area and made the coyotes largely hunt in another direction.



That's interesting. Out here the eagles mostly seem to go after shoreline catches. This include fish and ducks. The coyotes are more inland and nighttime scavengers.


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## Lake Girl (Mar 30, 2017)

While not as majestic a bird, I know spring isn't far off because the seagulls are back  Ice still on the vast majority of the lake but know there is open water near the control dam at the north end.


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## peakbagger (Mar 30, 2017)

By the way DDT is still produced and in use in third world countries. In theory they have figured out that a little goes a long way. The reason its still used is the health effects are minimal when used  property and the lives saved due to reduced mosquito born illnesses are much higher when its used. The typical use is DDT soaked mosquito nets and interior spraying.http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2006/pr50/en/


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## SlyFerret (Mar 30, 2017)

begreen said:


> That's interesting. Out here the eagles mostly seem to go after shoreline catches. This include fish and ducks. The coyotes are more inland and nighttime scavengers.


It's my theory based on my observation.  The state park reservoir is about a mile away, so there is water relatively close by.

There may be other reasons for the coyotes to change their patterns, but the timing lines up.  We went from near daily sightings and hearing them every night to seeing a coyote once a month and hearing them once or twice a week when the big birds moved in.

-SF

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk


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## EatenByLimestone (Apr 6, 2017)

There has never been a wimpier call than that of the bald eagle.   I love how they dub in a red tailed hawk call in the movies.


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## iamlucky13 (Apr 6, 2017)

EatenByLimestone said:


> There has never been a wimpier call than that of the bald eagle.   I love how they dub in a red tailed hawk call in the movies.



For the curious, sound files on the bottom right of this page:
http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/bald-eagle

It took me a long while to realize I wasn't hearing unseen ospreys.


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## ChipTam (Apr 6, 2017)

In Newfoundland, where we have a summer home, eagles are quite common.  When the caplin (small bait fish) come close to shore in early summer you can scan the beaches and see 30 or more eagles at one time.  Sometimes, when we're out fishing for cod and reject a small one over the side, an eagle will swoop down and grab it within a few feet of the boat startling us all.  Still, no matter how often you see them, they're magnificent every time.  ChipTam


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## georgepds (Apr 11, 2017)

From the new Yorker






	

		
			
		

		
	
 " you think I roll out of bed looking majestic"


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## blacktail (Apr 26, 2017)

georgepds said:


> ...garbage eaters.


Eagles like garbage too. I get a kick out of the bird watchers along the rivers during the winter oohing and ahhing over the majestic birds. The eagles are eating moldy, rotten salmon carcasses that wash up on the beach.


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