Jim and Diane Adams: Morning of the Eagles

It is the 4th of May, 2010. I am enjoying some time with my camera in the backyard. The sky is deep blue with high wispy clouds. In this bright spring setting, circling high above the pink crab apple trees, are four beautiful Bald Eagles. The thermals are lifting the birds effortlessly higher and higher. A couple of crows interrupt this graceful flight with some aerial combat by diving
ever so closely to the Eagles attempting to move them away from crow nesting territory. On the ground robins are busy gathering nesting

materials, blue birds scurry about with bits of grass in their beaks, grackle soar in and out of the yard, a chirping sparrow eats seeds scattered on the ground under a bird feeder, and a chickadee flutters in out of the beautiful pink crab apple blossoms. Diane finds me in the back yard with my camera and we decide to take a walk – the time is about 11:00 am.
We put on light jackets to ward off the cool wind, don our sunglasses and hats and begin our usual walk around the 1.5 mile circuit. Shortly after leaving the house, far off in the distance, we could hear an eagle cry. I mentioned this to Diane as we continued our walk. The haunting sound of an eagle cry kept penetrating the morning air as we approached the lake side near one of our turns down the block. As we strolled next to the lake, the sound seemed to be getting louder and louder. Suddenly, it was as if the sound were within a few feet of us. We stopped, walked very slowly, our eyes fixed on the tree tops looking for any movement or other signs of large birds.
Suddenly as if to say, “her

e we are,” were two large, magnificent, Bald Eagles. One was sitting on a dead branch and another was sitting a few feet away surrounded by pine boughs. We were in awe at the sight. It is so rare to be this close to these magnificent birds. The eagle surrounded by pine boughs tried to fly away but had problems because of the close proximity of the branches. It struggled, hanging upside down briefly, until it was able to get enough room for its huge wings to get enough lift to fly. The other eagle was not about to move anywhere. It had a kill and was in the process of consuming it.
As we watched the eagle devour its prey, large chunks of fur drifted to the ground like falling leaves. It was obvious the eagle wasn’t going to

move even with us watching. Of course, I didn’t have my camera along and got that sickening “if only I had my camera” feeling. After watching for a few minutes, we continued on our walk knowing there was another 15 minutes before getting to the house. In the back of my mind was the thought of cutting through the neighbor’s yard to get my camera and returning to the eagle eating in the pines. I dismissed the thought and decided to finish the walk with Diane. As we approached our house at the end of our walk a jet streaked above our heads with a clear and long condensation trail visible. I was still thinking about getting back to the eagle.
As we were watching the jet, our neighbors, Stub and Marlys, came out and we watched the plane disappear over the horizon. We chatted with them, even though my mind was bent on getting on my bicycle with my camera and riding back to the spot where we spotted the eagles to see if there was a chance they were still there or maybe had come back. Trying not to be discourteous, we finished talking and I hustled to the house to get my camera.
I went inside, put the camera around my neck I hurried to the shed to get my bicycle. The shed is a little lacking on light but I spotted the bike and begin backing it out of the shed. Then I

realized I had grabbed Diane’s bike which is too small for me. I thought, why at this particular time, did I have to grab the wrong bike; I had an eagle to photograph, ugh. It was like a countdown clock going off in my mind with ten seconds to eagle lift off and I might miss it. After struggling to put Diane’s bike back and getting the right bike I finally cleared the shed door, turned toward the street and was off to see if the eagle was still eating.
It was a short, less than two minute, ride to the site where we had spotted the eagles. As I approached the site my mind was going over the camera settings and how I would approach the site if the eagle was still there. As I rounded the corner where the eagle should be I saw it. Wow! This time, the eagle was in plain sight, about

twenty yards away, sitting atop an old dead tree, busily devouring its prey. I stopped the bike, put my feet firmly on the ground, not getting off the bike, and begin taking photos.
The eagle paused briefly after spotting me, evidently deciding I wasn’t a threat and continued feeding. I don’t know what prey it was eating but it was large, furry, and pieces of meat were hanging down below the eagle’s talons. It would pull off a large chunk of meat, raise its head and swallow it, check the surroundings and eat more meat. Things were going pretty well for the eagle for several minutes until it was interrupted by uninvited guests.

It seems that the crows, perhaps even those I saw earlier in aerial combat with the eagles, wanted the eagle out of their territory. The crow calls announced with no uncertainly that the eagle must be driven from the area. The eagle didn’t seem to be bothered even when the crows would dive and seemingly brush the eagle with their wings. The crows would sit in a branch just above and very close to the eagle as if to let the eagle know of their displeasure of its being in their territory. Finally after calling for reinforcements the crows could muster up three or four aerial fighters and begin to dive and harass the unwelcome giant.
After about five or six close encounters with diving crows, the eagle had had enough. It spread its wings several times to try to thwart off the crows but to no avail. The eagle lifted off the old dead tree with pieces of meat in its talons and departed over the lake with crows pursuing it like fighter planes attacking a bomber.

After a few minutes things were quiet over the lake; no crow calls, no eagle calls, just a few honks from three or four Canadian Geese that were swimming below where the eagle consumed its prey. I can imagine the geese were discussing, in goose language, how thankful they were to the crows and how relieved they were to see this threat leave their favorite swimming hole. Judging by the fur coming from the eagle as it ate, I’m sure that eagle had taken a rabbit for its dinner.