Eagle Tour With Deb Harvey Photography

Here’s a few shots Deb captured. It’s amazing how well these raptors have come back after the DDT of the 50’s was banned. Apparently the ddt made the eagles egg shells soft and they broke before the eaglets developed.

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You mean it wasn’t Deb Dallas?

The older you get, the more you learn how little you know.

Thanks for posting the pictures Brain…

Have you guys seen any golden eagles in the mix?? I have been seeing one up here on Pool 2 and a pair on the Croix. I don’t know if they move up with the Baldies.. The one on the Croix stays for the winter.

C

buschman wrote:

Thanks for posting the pictures Brain…

Have you guys seen any golden eagles in the mix?? I have been seeing one up here on Pool 2 and a pair on the Croix. I don’t know if they move up with the Baldies.. The one on the Croix stays for the winter.

We have had 4 large raptors hanging around Lake Mallalieu (Willow River just upstream from the St. Croix River, Hudson WI) for several weeks now, since open water first started to appear. They and some sea gulls were having a kind of noisy turf war over the open water area. Two of these were obviously Bald Eagles, but we weren’t sure about the other two. Me, being ignorant, thought they were female Bald Eagles. The wife, despite my assertive side to side head shakes of disagreement, thought them to be some kind of hawks. But now that I’ve looked up Golden Eagles on the intergoogle machine, it’s obvious that is what they are. Still see them soaring high above, but not so much at treetop level as they were before. Very, very cool.

Side by side sitting the Golden Eagles are taller. The wider wing spans are another give-away. Golden Eagles are live-prey feeders and shun carrion, which the Bald Eagles will happily feed on. There are a few pairs between the Whitewater Valley and the Wabasha/Alma area.

The DDT made Bald Eagle egg-shells very thin and brittle, so much so that the parent birds would often break them while trying to shift them in the nest.

I was amazed how many eagles there were up the Vermillion a few weeks ago. Most of them were bald eagles, but a few were golden’s. Unless they are discernibly larger (which the goldens I saw were) I think they are immature bald eagles. Regardless there had to be close to 30 of them, a flock of eagles!

We have been seeing goldens use the catfish bar area all winter long the last couple years. It is fun to watch them. Their body/wingspan is a lot bigger when you see one next to a bald. Both a young bald eagle and golden eagle have dark beaks at the tips but usually can tell the difference by the shape. It looks more like a hawks beak just a bigger frame.

The seagulls will usually let you know what it is. They fear the golden and could care less about the bald eagles. So if you see the ducks or gulls freaking out look up

I was curious if they cooperate well with the bald eagles.. I have not seen how they socialize here. Usually when the golden was around he got the place to himself.

I’ve only seen one Golden Eagle on P4 and that was a few years back. He would climb above a flying seagull and shoot down after it. The gull would dart to one side or the other just in the last moment. Then the eagle would start over by climbing again. This went on for about 20 minutes. Pretty amazing! That golden was a HUGE bird.

Werm, I’ve been up the Vermilion several times this spring and there are a tackle box full of young bald eagles. Some so young and dumb that they wouldn’t fly when I was 30 feet below them. Close up and personal. I’m not saying you didn’t see a golden, but when you do, you’ll know it because of it’s size.

Interesting read.. https://www.nationaleaglecenter.org/golden-eagle-project/

Great pictures
Thanks