[ApS]

Originally Posted by FLAG!

HAwk story - not even close to the same subject but interesting none the less. I've heard stories of birds of prey attacking large prey on the water's surface and at times grabbing onto something that is too big and not being able to let go. I saw this in action for the first time while visiting my father in Sarasota this past November. We were playing golf and were coming around a corner around a pond on the golf cart when right next to us a hawk slammed into the water and grabbed on to something. Could not tell if it was a fish or a gator or a turtle or what, but damn if that bird didn't try in vane to flap itself out of the water. It went down. And then it would surface again flapping, then go down, then back up. Everytime with noticeably less fight in him until finally he went down for the count. Sad but very interesting to witness.

I've witnessed a similar scene; but perhaps there was a final chapter to yours.

Twice, I've witnessed a bald eagle drop down on a diving duck (scaup) at the surface. Perhaps the duck was wounded, lame, or blinded, but it had enough fight in it to pull the bald eagle under the surface for what seemed like a very long time—and several times. The eagle flew off after the encounter, empty-taloned.

I wondered about this until the following day, when I saw it fly off with a motionless duck in its grip. Now I believe that the eagle was fatally and repeatedly wounding the duck with its talons under the surface, and waited until the next day to recover the dead—or dying—duck! Not just predatory (they'll pick an egret out of a flying flock of egrets), but an accomplished hunter!

I've seen this behavior twice now, so I was not so alarmed (for the eagle, anyway) the second time.

OTOH, large fish have been fished out of the water with an osprey's foot gripping the fish (foot only—no osprey).

The other birds in the photograph are black-backed gulls—another predator—and a common sight locally. They attack everything smaller than themselves, and they're usually seen perched on a rock or marker having a good, wide, view of Winnipesaukee. They'll stay with floating dead bass for hours, picking at it.

QL: Goldens, I've seen out West, but they're not very common in the Eastern states. Since I mostly "bird by ear", I don't miss much around Lake Winnipesaukee. 'Wish I could have heard—and seen—that Golden Eagle.