Not long ago, well a few months back, I was outside chatting with a neighbor when we saw a couple of birds flying around. Not too unusual until I noticed one was carrying something in it's claws. When I was able to shield the sun out of my face and focus in a little better, I realized it was a carrying a fish, and the 2 birds were BALD EAGLES!!
Let me just state for the record, I love living where we do. We're just outside of Washington, D.C. (only 15 miles) and yet my house backs to a huge state park. Wildlife sighting on a regular basis. But a Bald Eagle. Uh, hello weren't they endangered?
So I started yelling at everyone in the house "Get outside, there's a couple of Bald Eagle's out here, hurry!!!" I managed to get my camera and just as I was bringing it to my eye one Eagle knocked the fish out of the other Eagle's talons. As I watched this amazing sight the fish fell behind my house. Now, I don't really have a backyard to speak of. It's pretty much all woods, yup, right up to the house. So I'm thingking there's no way we're going to be able to find this fish. But my oldest (Jack) and I were so excited, we just had to look.
Just as we reached the back of the house we saw the fish. I couldn't believe our luck! He had managed to drop it right between what little green space we call the backyard and where the woods were. So that's what I got a picture of.
We all wondered if the Eagle(s) would come back for the fish. Now, I didn't know this but evidently their not really picky about their food. They could care less if it's no longer fresh from the river and all covered with leaves. Mmmmmm, says the Eagle. They are scavengers.
He did come back and to make this long story a little shorter we missed the descension and retrieval of the fish. Jack had to go to Lacrosse practice, Kelly and Dunn were napping and Finn and I got distracted after waiting and looking out the window for 1 1/2 hrs. (Very patiently, I might add) and didn't even get to see the swoop in! Darn!
BTW, I'm wondering where the heck thisfish came from, and why the Eagle was flying near my house. I don't live that close to a big body of water. The Potomac River is at least 10 miles away, and the huge park that we live near had a lake, but that's over 5 miles away.....hmmmmm.
But I have my photo of the fish. It's obvious that it was carried in and dropped by a Bald Eagle. I think that says enough.
0 Shout Out: