I've lived within 15 miles of my current house my whole life (31 years). In this 31 years I can remember seeing exactly 1 bald eagle...this was when I was on a 2-day canoe trip about 18 years ago. There's a power plant about 45 minutes north of here that is "famous" for their bald eagles...they might have 2-3 in the vicinity during the winter. I've seen 6 in the past 2 weeks, 1 male and 1 female together, 1 male flying solos, and 3 males having a skirmish right over my house last weekend. I don't know why so many all of a sudden, but they're pretty cool to see...and BIG.
The river that runs through our town is brackish further downstream and does not freeze up all the way so there is fish and waterfowl for them to hunt. I took the kids on an eagle trip a few weeks ago and saw quiet a few juveniles and a few adults. There are a few nesting pairs on the same river. They are massive. It is a good indicator when they return where they have not been in decades.
Uses the tall spruce to hunt the area by the lake out back. Arctic Tern always dive bombing him. Sometimes he swoops down by the lake, baby ducks, shrews sometimes fish. Cool to be there when he's sees something. Mostly sits in the tree, gets dived bombed a while , then leaves. I figure one day the Tern gets to close & Bang, diner for the chicks.
They are seen a lot around here. The Kennebec river is very near. One eagle got too close to the transformer on the power pole out front. Found it dead. Had to call the game warden because all the feathers are protected and go to the native Indians.
I see them around here quite often too. Mostly in the summer. They like to fly the air currents over the fields and main n/s drag looking for prey or roadkill. They always seem to be going away from me though, so tough to get good pics like yours, Dave.
I was driving home the other day -- out of the corner of my eye 30' off the road was a bald eagle about to take off with it's prey... Thought it was a large dog at first.
For decades, many bald eagles were taken from Alaska & relocated to the lower 48 . " Alaska has an estimated 50,000 bald eagles, half of them in southeast Alaska, said Mike Jacobson, an eagle management specialist in Alaska with the Fish and Wildlife Service. "This is the center of their population," Jacobson said from his Juneau field office. In the early 1980s and '90s, Alaska bald eagles were relocated to the Lower 48 states much more frequently, Jacobson said. But those requests have dropped off as the species has rebounded." Need to get the grizzly bear & wolf population back in your state, come get some of them too. We got lots. Yellowstone took some wolves. I read that's one reason the big eastern coyote moved in, wolves were eliminated there.
Not fond of the idea of having wolves here. They will be in competition with the hunters, and like the coyote, invading farm land and that will mean they will be shot. There will be no stoping it. No law, no fines, nothing. These wild animals are adapting and moving into populated areas. I have had deer give me sass when I was trying to scoot them out of my yard. I don't want my shrubs being their lunch. We have bobcat, bear sign, moose and all sorts of birds of pray. I won't let my dogs out of my yard because you just don't know what they may encounter. My cats are not let out at all.
Yea,, I think you have it right. But many east & west coast cities protest Alaska for our wolf & bear control hunts. Some of our areas have to many, but the protesters won't come & get them & take them home. Go figure LOL Same for moose here. If they don't run then what The Bald eagles are cool to have around. Common to see them daily here, if you look. Wish they ate wolves & bears
I don't remember seeing any around here until the mid 80's. Now I see 2 to 3 dozen a year. There is a large poultry industry in the area, lots of dead chickens to eat that are not properly disposed of. They are beautiful.
We see them at many of the lakes and ponds we fish. We even have them here at the lake we live on, But they usually stay in the less populated part of the lake. I'm in cottage row and lots of ruckus so we rarely see them except on a quite day. I try to snap pic's but by the time I fetch the camera, They have flow the coop. Not to mention I have stopped to look at them and get a bit mesmerized. Awesome creatures to say the least!
Never mind the wild turkeys. One of those damm things charged my then 2 year old when he ran and around the back of the house and startled a flock.
Mike, do you have a dog or two? I alway let my dogs out when the kids were out. Dogs won't let anything in the yard with the kids. I did't care how many holes they dug, they did a darn good job watching over the kids. They wouldn't even tolerate a grass snake. Always have had a couple dogs. Like the 100 lb size!
