In another thread there were some comments about how bad eagles beat each other up fighting. A while back I posted this image and most of the following text on another forum. Thought perhaps some folks in the Cafe may not have seen it and might be interested...
During one of our boating trips on Prince William Sound this summer, we visited an area where we've historically seen a lot of eagles and where there's a nest every quarter mile or so along the shoreline. One morning (the same day that I captured the images in this post ) we set up offshore of a nest with one bird sitting on the eggs/chicks and the mate fishing from the top of a nearby tree. There was also a pack of crows scattered in the treetops, apparently waiting to swoop in on the nest should the female leave.
We didn't have to wait long before the male made a dive within reasonable camera range. When I previewed the images I wasn't too thrilled as the bird was pretty ratty looking having many missing/broken feathers and soaking wet. Eagles feathers don't shed water like ducks or seabirds so when they get wet they look... well, wet
.
Anyhow, a rainshower was drifting up the bay (see the rainbow shot in the thread linked above) and there was a lot of activity in this spot so we sat tight and watched for a while. While we sat there, the female bird in the nest frequently called. We were laughing and making jokes that she was fussing at her lazy mate to hurry up with breakfast.
This time of year the birds are feeding mostly on herring and candle fish which require multiple catches to make a meal, much less feed a family. Bad for the birds, great for photography :smile: Every time this guy caught a fish, he would dutifully head for the nest to drop it off with mom. That's when all hell would break loose. If there was another eagle anywhere around, they would immediately try to head him off and steal the catch (they are such shameless thieves). Barring that, the pack of crows would start swarming around him and the nest when he landed. Then the female would REALLY start shrieking for all she was worth. The male would fight with the crows for a bit then return to his tree. After a few minutes everything would settle back down, male fishing, crows on watch, female nagging. Then the scene would repeat.
We saw this evolution repeat at least half a dozen times over about an hour and a half or so. Finally after catching yet another fish, the male took his catch and went and landed on a rock at the waters edge and out of sight of the nest, presumably to take a break and grab a bite for himself.
So there's the story. And here's the image of the tattered warrior. You can see his legs are so wet from multiple dives that you can see the skin beneath the feathers. The tips of all the feathers on his right wing are mangled. The trailing edge of the feathers on both wings were all ragged which doesn't show from this angle (I also had side shots of him diving). And if you look closely at the left side of his breast (his left, right side in image) you can see a spot of pink which is flesh sticking out from a wound received fighting other eagles.
In Alaska we see a lot of eagle hanging around dumps, marina fish cleaning stations, etc. Without seeing them in their natural element one can become jaded. But after witnessing things like this warrior's daily struggle to survive and procreate, one understands the awe with which Native American peoples looked upon these birds.
Postscript: Nearly two months later we visited this nest site again. The couple was still there, the salmon were in the bay (though a poor run), and there was an ugly head that only a mother could love sticking up out of the nest.
Battered but not Beaten
During one of our boating trips on Prince William Sound this summer, we visited an area where we've historically seen a lot of eagles and where there's a nest every quarter mile or so along the shoreline. One morning (the same day that I captured the images in this post ) we set up offshore of a nest with one bird sitting on the eggs/chicks and the mate fishing from the top of a nearby tree. There was also a pack of crows scattered in the treetops, apparently waiting to swoop in on the nest should the female leave.
We didn't have to wait long before the male made a dive within reasonable camera range. When I previewed the images I wasn't too thrilled as the bird was pretty ratty looking having many missing/broken feathers and soaking wet. Eagles feathers don't shed water like ducks or seabirds so when they get wet they look... well, wet
.Anyhow, a rainshower was drifting up the bay (see the rainbow shot in the thread linked above) and there was a lot of activity in this spot so we sat tight and watched for a while. While we sat there, the female bird in the nest frequently called. We were laughing and making jokes that she was fussing at her lazy mate to hurry up with breakfast
. This time of year the birds are feeding mostly on herring and candle fish which require multiple catches to make a meal, much less feed a family. Bad for the birds, great for photography :smile: Every time this guy caught a fish, he would dutifully head for the nest to drop it off with mom. That's when all hell would break loose. If there was another eagle anywhere around, they would immediately try to head him off and steal the catch (they are such shameless thieves). Barring that, the pack of crows would start swarming around him and the nest when he landed. Then the female would REALLY start shrieking for all she was worth. The male would fight with the crows for a bit then return to his tree. After a few minutes everything would settle back down, male fishing, crows on watch, female nagging. Then the scene would repeat.
We saw this evolution repeat at least half a dozen times over about an hour and a half or so. Finally after catching yet another fish, the male took his catch and went and landed on a rock at the waters edge and out of sight of the nest, presumably to take a break and grab a bite for himself.
So there's the story. And here's the image of the tattered warrior. You can see his legs are so wet from multiple dives that you can see the skin beneath the feathers. The tips of all the feathers on his right wing are mangled. The trailing edge of the feathers on both wings were all ragged which doesn't show from this angle (I also had side shots of him diving). And if you look closely at the left side of his breast (his left, right side in image) you can see a spot of pink which is flesh sticking out from a wound received fighting other eagles.
In Alaska we see a lot of eagle hanging around dumps, marina fish cleaning stations, etc. Without seeing them in their natural element one can become jaded. But after witnessing things like this warrior's daily struggle to survive and procreate, one understands the awe with which Native American peoples looked upon these birds.
Postscript: Nearly two months later we visited this nest site again. The couple was still there, the salmon were in the bay (though a poor run), and there was an ugly head that only a mother could love sticking up out of the nest.
Battered but not Beaten
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