Super User fishballer06 Posted March 30, 2021 Super User Posted March 30, 2021 On Sunday afternoon I got to get out and fish for a little. I spotted a bald eagle flying around the lake (I've seen this bird at this lake last year), so I thought that was neat. It was super windy that day, the white caps were ripping all over the water. The eagle came down and dived right into the lake out in front of me and flew up overhead. He hovered overhead and let me get a good picture of him. Check out what he's got in his claws 19 Quote
Super User Way2slow Posted March 30, 2021 Super User Posted March 30, 2021 There are some at Clarks Hill, love to see them. I've gotten shots of the sitting in the tops of pine trees fairly close but that shot's a treasure. At least the fish wasn't on the end of you line. I was bream fishing on the St Johns river once and there was a huge Great Horned owl sitting in a tree right at the edge of the water. I caught a large copper head bream and when it landed on the front deck of the boat, the owl dove down and took off with it, and my hook was still in the fish. He finally snatched it free and went on his way. The next day he was there again, so I just threw a bream on the deck, he flew down, grabbed it an went off. I was telling the guy that run the fish camp we were staying at, and he said he has been doing that for a few years to numbers of people. He said people will hold one up for him to take it out of there hand. Didn't try that, afraid he might miss the fish. 5 Quote
Super User TOXIC Posted March 30, 2021 Super User Posted March 30, 2021 Most memorable was early morning on a lake near me and I was the only boat out. Stopped at my first spot and noticed an eagle in a dead tree in the back of a cove. I was on my trolling motor and decided to see how close he would let me get. When I was no more than 20 yards away, he took flight and came so close to me that I could have reached out and touched him. Our eyes met and I felt the wind off his wings. Still get goosebumps when I think about it. 3 Quote
BigAngus752 Posted March 30, 2021 Posted March 30, 2021 48 minutes ago, TOXIC said: goosebumps I believe what you experienced are called "freedombumps". ? 1 2 Quote
Global Moderator 12poundbass Posted March 30, 2021 Global Moderator Posted March 30, 2021 That’s cool! Our neighbor was sitting on his deck the other morning having coffee and saw a hawk come down and grab a muskrat in front of our dock. Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted March 31, 2021 Global Moderator Posted March 31, 2021 Wonderful photo! We didn’t have many eagles at all when I was a kid, rarely saw blue herons or ospreys either. Now there are a dozen blue herons that live in every cove, osprey nests on every dayboard marker along the river, and there seems to be 1 nesting pair of bald eagles about every 10-15 miles apart on any river, even some fairly small ones. I’ve even been seeing bald eagles eating roadkill on the side of busy 4 lane highways. It appears to me something has drastically changed, it may have been when they stopped using DDT the birds have just made a slow comeback. Or maybe the improved water quality has just allowed for more shad and in turn more birds? (our water was pretty nasty back before somewhere around the late 90s.) Who knows, but I can tell you we must have an abundance of habitat for fish eating birds. I see lots of loons and cormorants and the occasional flock of pelicans. And we have gulls and terns in the winter Quote
Super User N Florida Mike Posted March 31, 2021 Super User Posted March 31, 2021 Eagles are about the only bird I dont see around where I live. We have ospreys, owls, herons, mallards, geese, cormorants, hawks, and many others. Had a hawk swoop down and grab my booyah frog once., but thank God he didnt hook himself... Quote
Super User Way2slow Posted March 31, 2021 Super User Posted March 31, 2021 The state introduced them into Clarks Hill years ago, but they are having problems with their survival. It seems the black coots on the lake carry some kind of disease that is deadly to the eagle, and if the eagle eats one that has it, it's a goner. Over they years they have found a lot of dead eagles because of that. Still love to watch them and it's nice when you do get to see one. Quote
Super User Bird Posted March 31, 2021 Super User Posted March 31, 2021 Excellent photo. Our Eagle population has " soared " over the last decade. 3 Quote
Super User MN Fisher Posted March 31, 2021 Super User Posted March 31, 2021 It's cool to see them 'spreading out' to other parts of the country. We see them all the time around here as after Alaska, Minnesota has the largest population of nesting pairs in the country, Wisconsin is 3rd. Quote
Super User TOXIC Posted March 31, 2021 Super User Posted March 31, 2021 They are thick on the Potomac. You can easily see 20-30 a day. 1 Quote
Bluegillslayer Posted March 31, 2021 Posted March 31, 2021 When the trout gets stocked in my lake the eagles do that often, they always wiggle in their claws as if their going "NOOOOOOOOOOOO LET ME GOOOOOOOO" Quote
E-rude dude Posted March 31, 2021 Posted March 31, 2021 See them almost everyday and they are still awe inspiring Quote
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