As Lance Armstrong says, “There are no bad days. Some days are just better than others.” That holds true when birding outstanding places like Killdeer Plains near Harpster, Ohio (40.42’09 N 83.17’35 W).
On our annual winter birding trip to the wildlife area, Susan Jones and I, along with our friends Karin Tanquist and Pat Coy, fully anticipate finding three, maybe four species of owls. It’s almost a tradition that we find wintering owls there. This year, on March 15, it was not to be. One species, Short-eared Owl, was all we could locate.
The unbelievable news is that we saw not one, but two Golden Eagles, along with a plethora of Bald Eagles. In fact, we had more eagles than sparrows.
Golden Eagles are somewhere between rare and unheard of in this part of Ohio. Occasionally, like this past winter, one will show up at the Wilds in east-central Ohio. We went there in January to see it. The temperature was a balmy minus 14 that day and through frozen eyeballs we saw the bird about three miles distant.
Yesterday was a different story. It was Pat who first spotted the juvenile golden. We’re all better-than-average birders, so, as he calmly talked through the identifying marks of a bird miles away, visible only through his spotting scope, we were all coming to the same conclusion. As we all got our scopes on the bird, two Bald Eagles rose to meet their larger cousin. The three put on an aerial display that had us oooing and aaaaing like it was the Fourth of July. (In the photo, the top bird is a Bald Eagle, as is the one on the left. The larger, Golden Eagle is on the right.) After what seemed like an hour, however, it was probably only 10 minutes, of soaring, the three birds parted company. As we kept looking, afraid to take our eyes off the spot, in amazement, another huge dark shape came into view. An adult Golden Eagle! The lighting was so good that it was the first time any of us clearly saw the spectacular shade of gold on the bird’s head for which it is named.
Some days are just better than others. March 15 was one of those for us birders. For documentation I’m posting these two photos. For a larger view, click on the photo.
1 comment:
What a wonderful day! I've never seen a bald eagle in the wild, although I know they can be found in our area. I hope to see one and this makes me want it to be soon even more.
Before you head through Summit County on your trips check out iShopSummit.com for tons of coupons for breakfasts, lunches and dinners. You can put the money you save on meals in your gas tank.
Stretching a dollar and great birding would make it an even better day, eh.
Post a Comment