Eagles of My 'Hood
Salmon is their favorite food, all around. They follow the fish runs back and forth every year, so most of them are seasonal residents. There are some who's chicks hatched too late in the season, or the ones who got injured will winter-over here until the end of the following season.
One sad sighting was when we were on the shore and there were several skiffs and small boats out in the narrows, and Eagle spotted a King Salmon that he wanted. We all watched, helpless and horrified as he got his great talon caught in the big fish somehow, and the fish being heavier and stronger in the water, pulled Eagle under and he disappeared. We could do nothing to save him, as it's against federal law to even touch a Bald Eagle, and the Coast Guard was watching. Even they could do nothing. Eagle is so protected, we can't save them.
Sometimes Eagle gives fish. My friend Mae was walking out to her mailbox one afternoon when she noticed Eagle flying over with a salmon in it's talons. She stopped to watch it, and just as it got over her yard, the big raptor dropped the fish! He didn't even slow down or take a second look for it, he just seemingly dropped it on his way over! She took it as a sign that they should have Salmon for dinner, and thanked Eagle before taking the fish in the house.
And, sometimes Eagle takes fish. We were fishing with our kids one sunny summer day, and they were catching the heck out of these little rock cod. We let them 'play' the fish for a few moments and get a good feel of what it's like to have a fish on, and one time Eagle swooped down and took Jessica's ~ while it was still on the line! We didn't even have time to react; all we could do for a moment was stare, open-mouthed and saucer-eyed! When he realized it was attached, Eagle dropped the fish, but it sure was funny!
Bald Eagles mate for life and their young stay with them for two years. I've watched a nest of young 'uns grow until they were too big to all fit in the nest. Even though they learned to hunt at a young age, these chicks still sat on a log to be fed! And the parents did
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