Share |
||
To copy the photo to the clipboard, on the thumbnail above and select Copy image.
We saw our first bald eagle at Otter Lake during the summer of 2015 - an immature without the distinguishing white head and tail.
Since then we have seen them more and more often, including in the depths of winter, and including with their adult plumage. This seems to correspond with the general increase in sightings in Southern Ontario.
The late summer of 2017 produced an abundance, especially in North Otter Lake near the Scout camp. Time and again we could canoe or kayak in that area, just hang around in the middle of the lake and reliably be able to see several - adults and immatures. The loons in the area were always disturbed when the bald eagles were around, crying out and often diving.
(Many of these photos are more a matter of record than quality. I rarely got close enough for a good shot.)
At 7:30 one morning this adult bald eagle was feasting on a fresh killed turkey on the ice directly in front of our house. It was -21°C and most of these photos were taken through our living room windows.
After it had eaten its fill I snowshoed onto the lake to look at the kill. There was little left other than feathers, and we never saw any crows or other scavengers pick over the remains in the following days. The previous day there had been fresh snow, and the tracks of the turkey and the bald eagle were clear, converging at the the kill. It was clear that the eagle had stalked or chased the turkey by foot, and had not from the air; the eagle's tracks on the lake could be seen for more than 60 metres.
This immature flew back and forth, from treetop to treetop over me while I was kayaking in the west arm of North Otter Lake.
Another breakfast time bonus, clearly visible from our study window, perched on a pine overlooking the lake.