Theft Attempt (1 of 2)
Dozens of Bald Eagles in several brief, intense periods on a recent morning were flying from shore at various angles to a small commercial fishing boat that was tossing unwanted fish back into the water for them. Concurrently, many eagles were flying back to shore at various angles either with their prize or in frustrated failure. There were numerous incidents in which an eagle returning to shore to eat its fish was attacked by another eagle trying to force, in football jargon, a fumble of the fish back into the water. I saw multiple fish dropped and scooped up by the aggressor.
In this picture (pic #1) a bigger female is positioned to strip a fish out of the talons of what seems to be a smaller male. The male is giving her a head fake (also sports jargon) to make her think that he is going behind her. Instead he veered in front of her and they seemed to touch. But he managed to escape with the fish and vocalized in triumph (Pic #2). As he flew off, he tucked in the fish better to risk avert against another thief flying from shore to intercept him.
It was interesting to see some veterans of this kind of activity protect their fish by flying very low over the lake and land to reduce the number of possible angles of attack.
Theft Attempt (1 of 2)
Dozens of Bald Eagles in several brief, intense periods on a recent morning were flying from shore at various angles to a small commercial fishing boat that was tossing unwanted fish back into the water for them. Concurrently, many eagles were flying back to shore at various angles either with their prize or in frustrated failure. There were numerous incidents in which an eagle returning to shore to eat its fish was attacked by another eagle trying to force, in football jargon, a fumble of the fish back into the water. I saw multiple fish dropped and scooped up by the aggressor.
In this picture (pic #1) a bigger female is positioned to strip a fish out of the talons of what seems to be a smaller male. The male is giving her a head fake (also sports jargon) to make her think that he is going behind her. Instead he veered in front of her and they seemed to touch. But he managed to escape with the fish and vocalized in triumph (Pic #2). As he flew off, he tucked in the fish better to risk avert against another thief flying from shore to intercept him.
It was interesting to see some veterans of this kind of activity protect their fish by flying very low over the lake and land to reduce the number of possible angles of attack.