Hi all, I was riveted by an encounter between two adult Bald Eagles and a female Common Merganser on Dryden Lake today. The merganser was in a small patch of open water, in an otherwise mostly frozen-over lake, and the eagles were perched on the ice edge just a few feet away. One or both eagles would periodically fly up and hover over the merganser with talons outstretched, and she would promptly dive under the surface. The hovering eagle would either land back on the ice edge or plunge into the water, coming up empty-handed each time. The merganser would resurface, and the whole process repeated itself for several minutes. To my eye, the merganser remained surprisingly calm and cool the entire time. At times she was almost preening but remained vigilant. The degree to which the eagles dwarfed her in size was very striking. Eventually the eagles gave up and flew off. I was thoroughly mesmerized.
Kevin -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
