Fishing for Juveniles (and Adults, Too)
Friday, September 19, 2008 at 10:40AM There are at least a couple of juvenile bald eagles—and grown up eagles, too—hanging around down by the river where I sometimes take my daily walks. Last week, while walking with a friend, we saw one juvenile sitting on the river edge very close to the walkway on the bank. He was, I think, hoping to catch himself a fish, but he left when a small crowd gathered to watch. Fishing, you know, is not a spectator sport.
And on my way home later, I saw two or three juveniles—I think there were three, but I was driving and had to pay attention to the road, too—sitting out in the middle of the river on a sandbar. If I’d had my camera, I’d have stopped to take a photo for you, but I hadn’t yet retrieved it from oldest son.
Do you know what a juvenile bald eagle looks like? Here’s a very short (16 seconds) YouTube video of one eating a salmon.
It takes five years for a bald eagle to get its full adult markings, so they reach full adult size before they get their adult feathering. (If I were a bird nerd, I’d call it plumage.) The one in the video looks to be largish and the ones I saw certainly were. Adult size for an eagle is pretty big, at least as far as bird go—around three feet tall for the girls and a few inches shorter for the boys. Wing span? Six or seven feet, and here the girls excel as well. Eagle men, I guess, prefer big women.
A few years ago, I told a story of how the eagle got her fish. (I never did get around to telling the wedding story I mentioned in that post, but sadly, the marriage has already gone kaput, so I hope you didn’t hold your breath waiting to hear that one.)
Reader Comments (2)
Do you mean to say that the Bald Eagle doesn't hold an olive branch in one talon and arrows in the other?
I guess if I collect 20 or 30 of those $1 bills I could buy a decent field guide and get myself straighten out on this subject. SMILE
And . . . . lucky for me some men prefer big women. BIGGER SMILE
:)