Whenever I see a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in the air, I will try to track it through the lens of my camera. This past Wednesday I was tracking an eagle that was a long way from me at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The eagle was flying quite low, so I figured he was fishing.
I snapped the first photo shortly after the eagle dropped down to the water and grabbed what I thought was a fish. As you can see in the photo, the birds in the immediate area were quite agitated with the eagle flying just above them. When I examined the image on my computer, I realized that the eagle’s prey was probably an American Coot (Fulica americana), not a fish.
The eagle flew low over the water, probably to avoiding alerting any other eagles of its catch. As the eagle flew by me, I was able to capture the second and third images that clearly show the wings of the bird in the eagle’s talons.
The eagle landed in a small tree not far from the shore and proceed to feast on its freshly-caught meal. The bird was wedged in a crook in the tree that helped to steady the prey as the eagle dug into it. If you look closely at the eagle’s beak in the fourth photo, you can see bright red blood from the bird.
When the eagle had partially consumed its meal, it flew to another tree. In the final photo you can see the dangling feet of the prey. Unlike ducks that have webbed feet, coots have lobed feet with long toes and you can see some of those toes in the last image. If you would like to get a closer look at a coot’s feet, check out my December 2014 blog post entitled “Coot feet.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 