I looked out the window and it was one of those nice, sunny days during the week that some birders long for. I decided to go out to southeastern Lambton and southwestern Middlesex counties to see if I could photograph some of the eagles that typically overwinter there. Bald Eagles seem to be the more abundant, but a few Golden Eagles are usually not far away. While seeing a Bald Eagle isn't quite the novelty that it was not that long ago, they are still a highlight. Golden Eagles, however, are definitely hard to come by most of the year, so when a few are hanging out so close to home, it was not an opportunity to pass up. The area I was headed to is within the Skunk's Misery Christmas Bird Count circle, and that count, held on Dec 21, 2019, tallied 22 Bald Eagles and 2 Goldens.
On my way out on Longwoods Road, along the Thames River east of Chatham, I saw a pair of adult Bald Eagles not too high up. There is a nest along the river not far away from where I was, so it was likely the pair of that territory.
As I drove farther east, the sunny skies turned to solid cloud. Along a gravel road just west of Bothwell, there was a flock of Horned Larks, Snow Buntings and a couple of Lapland Longspurs. A bit of corn had spilled on the road, and the birds were busily feasting on what they could get. I got a few shots, but didn't want to waste time when the possibility of Golden Eagles was not far off. I did manage to get a few photos of the same flock on my return, when the light was a bit brighter. The longspurs were not as cooperative for the camera as the other two species.
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| Horned Lark |
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| Snow Bunting |
By the time I got to my destination, it was even heavier cloud, with snow flurries. The snow was likely complements of the northwest wind bringing streamers off of Lake Huron. I did see a few eagles perched in trees at the edge of some of the woodlots, but always a long way off and in poor light.
I roamed around some of the back roads, checking woodlot edges and keeping an eye to the sky. Last year I came across several eagles feasting on a dead animal well out into a field. Most were Bald Eagles, but there was one Golden amongst them. I didn't see any grounded eagles today, but perhaps the snow and wind made them seek out other places.
Eventually the clouds broke through a bit. And some eagles were on the wing. The conditions weren't great for some shots....
...but if I could time it so that the photos were taken when the birds were against a patch of blue, it was considerably better.
There was just the one adult Bald Eagle at this point, but a couple of immature birds were out and about as well. I found it interesting that although the sky was blue, it was still snowing so that the flakes were really quite evident. Click on the photo to make it even more evident. These are two different immatures, as you can see by the different under tail pattern.
A little later, when the clouds dominated again, I was along Hwy 79 a bit north of the village of Cairo. I noticed at least three eagles off in the distance, circling over a wooded area. A closer look indicated that one of the birds was an adult Bald Eagle, and the other two that were slightly nearer were interacting. One was immature Bald, the other an immature Golden. And they weren't just soaring along together. In this case, the young Bald Eagle was clearly the aggressor, as the following sequence shows:
The conditions were not great for photography. As you can tell, the sky was a dull grey. The birds were probably about a kilometre away and there was some light snow flurries in the air. The camera had a hard time focusing under the circumstances, so none of the photos are very sharp. And all of these photos are heavily cropped. But I thought it would be interesting to show this interaction. The photos were taken over a 19 second period, and that is about as long as the whole thing lasted. I was a little surprised to see that the Bald Eagle was the aggressor. Normally Golden Eagles are slightly larger and a more aggressive hunter, although female eagles are slightly larger than males, so maybe it was a size difference? Or maybe the Bald Eagle felt more confident due to the fact that there were several other Bald Eagles nearby, and this Golden Eagle was clearly in the minority. Regardless, it was an interesting episode that I have never seen before, let alone caught on the camera. I do hope to get out again on a predictably sunny day to watch for these birds again.
All of the eagles disappeared for awhile, and then while I was waiting and watching for awhile on Mosside Road, I noticed another immature Golden Eagle come into view. It landed at the top of a tree at the edge of the woods for a few moments.....
.....before striking off to the north west.
It was certainly one of the best days I've ever had with eagles, with at least 9 Balds and 2 Goldens!
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