They should rename it "the Bald Eagle stroke" (& loon sighting)

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, Birders.

Late yesterday afternoon, Monday, Sept. 29, in the rain, Hannah and Andrew and I saw a Common Loon at Baseline Reservoir, Boulder County. A bit early. Distant, cell-phone-through-raindrops-and-a-scope photos here: 

http://tinyurl.com/CoLo-2014-09-29

But the really cool thing we saw was a Bald Eagle hunting American Coots. The main flock of 78 coots bunched together incredibly tight--they looked like a single black plank on the water. Two other coots declined to join the main flock. Big mistake. The eagle rose straight up, hovered like an Osprey, and plunged straight down into the water, pouncing on one of the coots. Then, for the longest time, the eagle just floated on the water, looking for all the world like a Laysan Albatross.

Eventually, the eagle realized it had a problem, namely, how to get the coot back to shore. So the eagle swam to the shore by propelling itself with its wings with wild, flailing, circular motions. It was exactly what humans call the "butterfly stroke," except butterflies don't fly like that, and I doubt they swim like that. It was incredibly awkward-looking, but fast and efficient--just like all the kids doing the butterfly stroke at Hannah's swim meets, come to think of it.

Soon enough, the eagle had swum back to shore and was standing on a rock, drenched, eating a coot.

While we were out there, we saw 22 Ruddy Ducks fall out. I don't get to see Ruddy Ducks in flight all that often, so it was a neat sight.

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado.