Shootin' Whitetails

Eagles and Hawks and Waterfowl

Fri, January 27, 2012

Have you ever had one of those days? I did last Tuesday. What was supposed to be a day in the timber looking for sheds turned into a day of photographing eagles, hawks, waterfowl and finally deer. On my way out to my favorite shed hunting grounds I spotted a bald eagle and then the chase was on. Between the damn at Lake Springfield and Lincoln Memorial Garden I watched as many as ten eagles over Lake Springfield. A trail at Lincoln Memorial Garden was one of the best spots to see the eagles. I watched as three mature and two immature bald eagles circled over head. My shed hunting trip was quickly forgotten as I spent the morning at the lake with the eagles.

Besides eagles there were large numbers of waterfowl on the lake. Species present included ruddy ducks, mallards, American coots, hooded mergansers, common mergansers, and rose breasted mergansers, lesser scaups, canvas backs, and common golden eyes.

An afternoon walk behind my house turned up a coopers hawk. The hawk had an American coot pinned down in a small pool of water by the lake. I had unwittingly walked upon the scene and interrupted the hawks’ plans for dinner. My blunder provided the coot an opportunity to slip over the rocks and escape out to the main lake. The coopers hawk flew up to a nearby branch to dry its wings, providing me a chance snap quite a few photos. The coop kept an eye on the injured coot as it swam across the bay. After drying its wings the hawk took off and made a pass at the injured coot which made a quick dive under the water as the hawk buzzed by over head. The hawk settled on a nearby dock waiting for the coot to pop back up. I didn’t stick around to see the outcome but I’m betting the coot managed to make an escape.

In all it was a great way to spend the day outdoors. Eagles, hawks, and deer, it doesn’t get much better than that.

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