Normally when I see a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) catch a fish, it is a grab-and-go affair. The eagle reaches out with extended talons, pulls the fish from the surface of the water, and keeps flying.
Yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the scene was quite different. I spotted an eagle flying low over the water and watched as the eagle went deep into the water feet-first. I was shocked when the eagle was briefly submerged. It made multiple unsuccessful attempts to lift itself out of the water before it ultimately managed to fly away.
What was the problem? I have heard of cases when the eagle snagged a fish that was too heavy to lift. I have also seen videos of eagles swimming to shore with large fish. This eagle was far from shore, so that was not really an option here. I wonder if perhaps the fish was stuck in vegetation and the eagle had somehow gotten its talons entangled. As I look at the final photo, I am not able to tell if the eagle has its prey, but by the time the eagle was airborne, the talons were empty.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I have often wondered what would happen if the eagle could not lift with the prey.
Here’s a link to a video of an eagle swimming with its heavy fish to shore (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fKtcBCL9Lw) . If the fish is too heavy, the eagle has to decide whether to give it up or try to swim with it. This eagle was a long way from shore.
I’ve also seen them grab a fish that’s too big to lift. In one case, the eagle managed to get about a foot above the water and finally dropped it.
Not all of my photos were in focus, but I checked them anyways and didn’t see any in which I saw a fish emerge from the water, though I think that might have been what happened.
I love that last shot, Mike.
That’s my favorite too, Dan. Normally I lead with my favorite shot, but in this case I decided to post the shots chronologically in sequence.
I have never seen an eagle in the water so I am now going to keep a closer eye when I see one fishing over the harbor.
I love to track eagles whenever I see them flying near the water. I wasn’t expecting for this to happen, but it was pretty cool to see.
I admit that I have never considered before whether an eagle would engage in this type of behaviour. I am grateful to your photo series for showing me something I doubt I will ever see for myself.
Thanks, Laura. It turns out that an eagle can swim when it has to, though I am sure it would prefer to fly. Like an airplane, an eagle probably has a maximum weight capacity at which it can safely fly.
[…] Swamped eagle […]
Looks more like an Osprey trick rather than Eagle. Nice shots and series. Very unusual. 👍
Thanks. Ted. I was thinking the same thing, although the eagle did not come hurtling straight down from the air like an osprey does. I don’t know how often this happens, but it was cool to see.
I’ve never seen one so it either.
That’s really interesting, Mike. Nice to know I’m not the only one that at times bites off more than I can chew!
I’ve seen both eagles and ospreys in the water like this near our cabin, and in all but one of the instances they were able to take off again; in the other it was able to swim to shore with a sort of slow-motion butterfly stroke. It provides a real insight into the power in their flight muscles and the strength of their wings.
I have seen osprey go deep into the water and then explode into the air. I have heard that the impact of them hitting the prey helps to immobilize it. I have seen an eagle swim only once when it was injured, but have never seen one do so while dragging a fish. I too am impressed by the apparent power of an eagle’s wings.
Holding your breath, I bet. Nice series, Mike, and so interesting to witness.
I’ve never seen a “swimming” eagle. Nice catch, Mike.
Thanks, Steve. This is only the second time that I have seen an eagle swimming. The first time was six years ago when I captured some photos of the rescue of an injured eagle at a local park–the eagle tried to swim away for the animal control officer. The blog posting that I did (https://michaelqpowell.com/2014/11/04/rescue-of-an-injured-bald-eagle/) is my most-viewed post, partly because some of the local media used a link to it in their news coverage that included some of my photos.
Wow, that’s pretty dramatic!
Thanks, Nina. I love watching eagles and was happy to be able to capture this little action sequence.
What an eagle adventure you had that day!! You will never know what was going on. Thanks for sharing with us!
It sometimes is tough to figure out what is happening, but my approach is generally to shoot first and ask questions later. 🙂
It’s a dangerous business!