Bald Eagle sighting, a mating pair?
Bald Eagle,
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Date:
December 17, 2010
Time:
12:00pm-12:10pm
Location:
Mouth of Wilson, Virginia, below the Field's Dam at the confluence of Fox Creek and the New River. (Lat/Lon: 36.602951, -81.307705)
Elevation:
2460 feet
Weather:
temperature is on the rise after a two week period of extreme cold and moderate to light snow.
On my way to Mouth of Wilson
, at around noon, two giant birds caught my eye. I had just crossed over the bridge where Fox Creek empties into the New River. After hitting the brakes and spilling a soda on the floor, I pulled over and watched. The adult eagles were taking turns swooping down, coming within inches of a bird in the water. Every minute or so they would perch on the trees along the south side of the river. A crow passed through, heading upstream, and one eagle dove into hot pursuit. It made chase up to the dam and returned. After diving down at a water bird several more times
.
I did not make an ID on that bird, but it dove under the water on occasions; cormorant sized, with dark plumage. I noticed at Aviatlas.com that a double-crested cormorant has been spotted near this locality before
(during the month of October).
The pair of eagles departed together. They flew southwest, up stream, and then turned south toward Piney Creek, NC
(very high in the sky but almost directly over 93)
.
Maybe one day someone will find a nest!
I continued west on 58, admiring the up-thrust sheets of ice about to spill over the banks of the New River (this reminded me of last year's amazing January ice event:
).