Gun Dog Forum

Just curious if anyone else is seeing bald eagles where they haven't before. Live about 40 miles west of Milwaukee and although I've seen 1 or 2 in the last 4 years, suddenly in December I'm seeing them in multiple places. One flew by our house about 3 weeks ago, then saw another a little west of us a week later, saw another going over another hunting spot to the west a few miles around Christmas. Then on new years 2 flew over as we were finishing out the pheasant season. Then yesterday saw another fly over the expressway about 30 miles south of us.

I'm guessing it's related to the mild winter and open water but we've had that before and I've never seen any. They'll probably clear out as it's now freezing over everywhere.

Anyway just wondering if anyone else is seeing something similar.

We are in a small town-rural area and for the past 6-7 years there have been some eagles in the area. Not many, and I spot one every 6 months or so. I don't know if I keep seeing the same one, or if he has friends in the area. Haven't spotted a nest yet.
We just saw one yesterday on the wires along a highway,aybe 15 miles from us; in August or early Sept. there was one perched in a dead tree right behind our house.

The eagles are interesting, but I'm also on the lookout for drones. Spotted one a few times over my back horse pasture. Maybe scouting for deer? Who knows?

Our eagle resurgence is a great success story, since the banning of DDT and other measures populations are up 10 fold.

I am not as pleased with the new levels of the smaller raptors, as wondrous as they are, they take a heavy toll on song and game birds.

Big surge in Ontario too. They stay the winter.

Practically all birds migrate if and when food becomes scarce. The eagles will find any place where there is open water that has fish in it. Igf they can't find that they will move further south till they do.

Ezzy

I have routinely seen groups of 20 or more near one of my hunting spots. Despite that pheasant numbers were up this year. I think I most often see them scavaging road kill and killing bunnies.

Bald Eagles are not aggressive predators like a Golden eagle but are rather a fish eater and scavenger. They are much to big and slow to be a big problem for our upland birds.

Take a drive over to Fountain City, WI or another small river town that has open water along the Mississippi this winter is you want to see a lot of bald eagles. I still remember the first time I drove through there in the winter. I had to pull over and marvel at the numbers. I wouldn't doubt if I saw more than 100 eagle from the one pull off spot. I've never seen anything quite like that since.

Here in Pittsburgh, PA we have been seeing numerous Bald eagles up and down the Ohio River. Have a nesting pair in our backyard. Have seen eaglets the last 3 years. Fun to watch them bringing fish and logs to their nest from the river. Amazing and majestic to watch them soar around above the house, it never gets old.

Lots of Bald Eagles along Snake River this year. Last week I saw 5 while duck hunting near American Falls Resv. I've even seen them out in the Arco area feeding on carrion along the highway.

The WI DNR hosted a live chat about eagles.

http://host.madison.com/wsj/sports/recr ... 7d771.html

MnDNR has had a live camera on a nest near St. Paul during the nesting season for four years now. It is running now. Have not seen the eagles yet. The same female has returned for several years. She was banded in Pennsylvania. Can not recall the year. I think she lost her first mate and now has a different one.
They raised two eaglets last year. Should be returning soon. I think the first egg last year was on 1-20 and all three were laid by 1-25. It is interesting to watch the eaglets grow and see the amount of food it takes to feed them.
WWW.MNDNR eaglecam.com..................Cj

I have seen more Bald Eagles in Southern Ohio this year than I ever have.

The same pair has returned to the nest on eagle cam. Does not look like any eggs yet but a lot of activity..................CJ

they have a strong flavor somewhere between a spotted owl and a California condor, parboil them prior to roasting

Driving a work van at about 60mph through a river valley, had one come up out of the ditch in front of me. probably feeding on road kill. All I saw was feathers, from one side of the windshield to the other. The air coming up over the front apparently gave the bird enough lift for him to lift over the truck with out being hurt, but the sound of the tires squealing probably hurt his ears for a while. Big bird.big wing spread.

bobman wrote:they have a strong flavor somewhere between a spotted owl and a California condor, parboil them prior to roasting

:roll:

Gertie wrote:

bobman wrote:they have a strong flavor somewhere between a spotted owl and a California condor, parboil them prior to roasting

:roll:

humorless ....

Hey bobman, humor is not an option and frowned on. Anyone attempting humor can't possibly be a serious dog person and very likely a bad person to boot.

mask wrote:Hey bobman, humor is not an option and frowned on. Anyone attempting humor can't possibly be a serious dog person and very likely a bad person to boot.

Actually the present status of T&E species management and the ESA is pretty humorous. What was meant to be a biologist to biologist consultation process has been hijacked by lawyers and judges. So now something that should have been done with a concise technical report has become a long and involved document that needs to be written so it can be understood by a third grader so there is no doubt in the legal folks minds as to what is going on. Throw in the radical environmental groups and a few "granola bar biologists" (One of my college profs told us "Don't ever trust a biologist that doesn't hunt and fish") and the process becomes full blown laughable. This is one of the reasons I hung up my computer and got out of the T&E business. I'm no longer a bureaulgist saving species one document at a time.

bobman wrote:

Gertie wrote:

bobman wrote:they have a strong flavor somewhere between a spotted owl and a California condor, parboil them prior to roasting

:roll:

humorless ....

Another failing of the internet's ability to convey sarcasm. I meant that as a good humored eye roll. I'm a biologist that has had the dubious pleasure of working with T&E species, including the spotted owl. Trust me, if I didn't have a sense of humor about all the issues associated with these critters I'd have lost my marbles by now To demonstrate my point, here's a photo of a hat that hangs above my desk that was given to me by a co-worker:



edited for grammar

Gertie, Believe me I felt your pain. (See my previous post on this topic)

About 30 mins north of me in the town i grew up in there are bald eagles now. Just started showing up 2 years ago. Absolutely amazing. We never had them here before.

egg no. 1 hatched in the eagle cam nest inn ST.Paul this morning. three eggs total.................Cj