Golden Eagle Benton Co

[Wendy VanDeWalle]

Hi all! 

It’s been fun to watch the Snow Geese and the Greater White-fronted Geese streaming north. Yesterday morning a large group of Snow Geese flew right over our house! (Buchanan Co)

The sound of their calls definitely means spring to me! 

Today, this early afternoon I was at Winegar Park in Benton County to see if I could catch more geese flying up the Cedar. I watched a somewhat distant brown eagle fly west and figured it was a first year Bald Eagle, because I thought I could see some white speckling on the wings closer to the armpits. After a couple minutes it came back being chased by an adult Bald Eagle! They tussled in the air a few times and I thought it was odd that an adult would chase a young one like that. I figured I needed to look at it more closely. At one point they actually locked talons and spun several times in the air! Right after that, the brown one was right overhead and I could see a little bit of white at the base of the tail. I could also see a bit of a white line on the wings between the coverts and the flight feathers. And then as it was flying off to the side I could see the golden head shining in the sun. The Bald Eagle stopped chasing after the talon lock. (There is a nest maybe a mile up river as the crow flies). I figured this was probably a second year Golden. 

I was fortunate enough to get a second closer look at this bird and see some pretty cool Eagle behavior! 

The FOYs (First of the Year birds) are streaming in! My first Turkey Vulture was this morning. Have fun! 

Wendy VanDeWalle 

Buchanan Co 

PS: If you use eBird, remember that scientists and conservationists use this data, so be sure to add in behavior and breeding status. If it’s singing just click that “S”.  :-) My Bald Eagle got a “T” for territorial defense!