Saw something really neat

[skeet]

yesterday. An Eagle(white head et al) was attempting to catch a Red Tailed Hawk right over the farm here. He tried for about 4 or 5 minutes...actually getting a load of feathers out of him one time...but the hawk seemed a little more agile after the first flurry or two. I have never seen an eagle try to catch a hawk before.. Have seen 'em catch a goose or two. Mostly crippled geese but saw one snatch a goose right out of a flock of 10 one day flying ...but never a hawk and eagle fight. Was just something I had to share with y'all. Ever seen this happen before??

[kt]

having studied raptors a little, i have spent some time watching all types, i must say, all of the things you posted there are fantastic. even taking a goose blows me away. all i ever seen them do is pick at road killed deer. I have seen a perigrine falcon dive bomb a red tail that got to close to the chicks apparently, the hawk never saw that coming. very cool
kt

[fabsroman]

All of that sounds really cool to me. I have seen bald eagles twice in my life. Once was down around Solomons Island when I was crabbing. All the seagulls on the dock took off all of a sudden and I sat there wondering why. Then I saw the eagle circling in the sky.

The other time was while I was on my way up to Baltimore on I-95. I saw the eagle on the other side of the highway and I saw it come down and land somewhere over there around the on/off ramp. So, I went up to the next ramp and came back down to where I thought it was. I ended up finding it on top of a tree and watched it go from tree to tree. I never would have expected to see that eagle there. I was dumbfounded, but happy too. Something tells me that most of the people driving down I-95 that day would never have seen it because they are never looking for it.

Doesn't it amaze you that a lot of people wouldn't find it the least bit interesting to hear about an eagle trying to catch a red tailed hawk. SAD.

Skeet, keep the pictures and stories of sightings coming. Hopefully, I will be able to get out there soon and have some of my own.

[IchWarrior]

Nope, haven't seen that happen...

But I did have a hawk watch me trouble shoot some cable today. Flew to a near by power pole when we showed and watched us do our stuff.

[TheeBadOne]

My father was fishing and saw two crows chasing and harassing a bald eagle. Mr eagle rolled over on his back when one crow swooped over him and grabbed the crow, rolled back over to normal flight (crush) and released the dead crow to plummet to the ground below. All occurred quicker than you just read it. The other crow decided eagle harassing was for "the birds", meaning any other bird but him! He took off in a huff and the eagle just kept poking along on his original course.

I would have loved to have seen that play out.

[Jonesy]

We have many types of raptors around here, including bald and golden eagles. Have seen them do many strange things. One is, we have had in the past, resident golden eagles stay all winter and prey almost exclusively on wild turkeys. Seems to be pretty easy pickens for them. Turkeys and ofcourse jack rabbits seems to be the norm. Have seen them with many snakes, rabbits, young deer, antelope, and lambs. It's unspoken, but many of the ranchers treat them like the plaque and shoot them. But it doesn't seem to hurt the population around here.

[skeet]

A lot of birds harrass eagles. I have seen little ol blackbirds do the same thing to them. I would have loved to have seen the eagle catch the crow too TBO. I like to watch the ospreys mess with the eagles when they have their youngun's in the nest. They really are more agile flyers than the eagles too....and they are very vocal birds... screeching at the eagles while they harrass them. Lot of eagles migrating through here now. Quite a few stay too. Had one hanging around here for about a month or so.

[fabsroman]

Don't get me started about the ranchers shooting the eagles. I was hunting with a guy once that wanted to shoot a hawk over his duck pond because it might scare the ducks away. Of course, I was slightly pissed, but it was his farm and I was a guest. Luckily, the hawk left before he had a chance to shoot it.

[Jonesy]

Fabs, I don't support by any means the shooting of eagles. But when I do find a dead eagle, I let the local native americans know, so they can get them to make things for cerimonial purposes. So at least they get utilized. Power lines are probably the main killer of eagles around here.