Friday, November 16, 2012

Another Roadside Bald Eagle

It's that time of year again when the hog and deer hunters toss the remains of their successful hunts along the roadsides.
All these carcasses make for easy pickings and the eagles don't miss a beat.
This eagle was a few miles from my house Wednesday as I drove home from Cedar Key. I glimpsed him down a dirt road as I sped past in the JEEP, so I did a U-turn and crept as close as I dared.

What you don't see in the photo is the crowd of about 6 black vultures that were waiting, not too patiently, for the eagle to finish. The eagle definitely ruled this swinish roost.

It was grey, overcast, and not long before sunset, so the video (not HD) is a little grainy.
An approaching car was my signal to end the video, but near the end of the video, the eagle is hopping over to deal with the boldest of the vultures. The neighbor's car turning into the little dirt road ended the scene as eagle and vultures all lifted off.

So did I.


7 comments:

Pablo said...

I'm pretty sure I recognize that eagle. It's from Missouri and is spending the winter down with you guys.

Dina J said...

Nice catch! Amazing to see just driving down the road. I just hope those hunters are using lead free bullets.

Sally said...

How interesting that the vulture flock defers to the eagle. Thanks for sharing the video!

R.Powers said...

Pablo,
That would be the smart thing to do.

Dina,
Great point, but the probability of that is nil.

Sally,
Thanks! He definitely was large and in charge.

Wally Jones said...

Nice "target of opportunity"! It's no doubt who's in charge when an eagle is present!

Julie Zickefoose said...

Nice leggy alert beautiful eagle. I believe that's a young turkey vulture that you cut to halfway through the vid--birds born this year have a gray head.
You've been Chimped!
eee eee eee
and thanks for the fish ID.

R.Powers said...

Thanks Zick! Getting chimped by the birdmeister is an honor.