Bald Eagles At The Hood Canal, Washington

In spring eagles gather at the Hood Canal in Washington. What brings them there is a little fished called the Midshipman. The female Midshipmen lay their eggs in the oyster beds and then leave for the male fish to tend to the eggs. The problem for the fish is the oyster beds are in shallow water so that when the tide goes out the fish are exposed. All sorts of birds come to feast on the fish, and among them are lots and lots of eagles.

The behavior shown in the two images above is called grappling. It is a cartwheeling spinning display with talons locked. I had heard that this was courting behavior, however, according to the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Wildlife Institute, this is aggressive territorial behavior. In every grappling image I have the eagle on the bottom looks distressed, while the one on top appears very much in control.

Here is an image of an eagle with a freshly caught Midshipmen, being tailed by one of the ever present crows. The eagles aggressive birds for sure but the ravens and crows are not daunted by them and put up quite an aggressive display themselves. Sometimes, when watching them with the eagles I will wonder if they didn't wish they were eagles.

This is perhaps my favorite bald eagle image. This was taken just before the turn to dive down and steal a fish from a blue heron in the oyster beds. I feel like this image captures the elegance and majesty of these amazing raptors.

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Notes To My Mother

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