Today I saw an Eagle catch and eat a rabbit.
Not something you see every day from your front porch.

Wow!!!!! They have no mercy. We've seen coyotes stalk and catch rabbits, but I would have thought they'd be too big for an eagle to do that. Nice shots, thanks....

ezdays Wrote:Wow!!!!! They have no mercy. We've seen coyotes stalk and catch rabbits, but I would have thought they'd be too big for an eagle to do that. Nice shots, thanks....

I wouldn't have thought an eagle would catch a rabbit either, but I didn't think eagles were that big. Those fence posts are railroad ties. That is one huge bird.

Great shots Ray!

ray_m Wrote:

ezdays Wrote:Wow!!!!! They have no mercy. We've seen coyotes stalk and catch rabbits, but I would have thought they'd be too big for an eagle to do that. Nice shots, thanks....

I wouldn't have thought an eagle would catch a rabbit either, but I didn't think eagles were that big. Those fence posts are railroad ties. That is one huge bird.

Yeah, the only Bald Eagles that I've seen were in Verde Canyon and they were a lot smaller than this one. We had a lot of Turkey Vultures around our house in Wickenburg that were fairly large, but they won't go after anything that's still moving. I've seen them flying away with a good size rattler in their beaks though.

One of the fringe benefits of my favorite spot to railfan has been the addition of a family of Bald Eagles. We watch the birds in between trains. They hatched one chick last year, their first year in an ex hawks nest and it looks like they may be hatching another, although that would be unusual from what I have read. We see all three of them flying around now and again.[attachment=16535][attachment=16534]
last year before the little one could fly I watched one of the parents bringing home what I thought was another stick for the nest. I watched him drop it from about 200 feet, into a newly plowed field. It did this about 6 times and then he headed for the nest. It was then that I realised he had a snake he was killing before taking home the bacon.

Charlie

Great Pictures!!

Here in the Land of the Haggis we have Golden Eagles, and Sea Eagles are gradually being re-established (with white heads like your bald Eagles - the closest I have ever seen was a sea eagle that flew past the windows of the range control tower at Faraid Head, Durness, about 6 feet away - huge and magnificent birds! That (of course) was the day I didn't have a camera!

They're pretty big. I saw one in the Hudson Valley that must have had a 7 foot wingspan and man are they fast.

Saw a Red Tail Hawk devouring a Chipmunk. About the same size relationship as the Eagle to Rabbit.
I have seen Eagles, and rabbits are not necessarily their largest prey. Proud birds, glorious in flight, deserving of their status as our nation's symbol.

Great pictures of a wonderful and gorgeous animal. Congrats!
And Thanks for sharing!

I tend to spot them when I'm around trains. I guess the RoW makes a good place to hunt! This Bald Eagle was over Pemberton, NJ.

Birds of Prey consider trains as "Meals on Wheels". We had a hawk that would travel beside us waiting for lunch o be shaken from the tracks.
I remember one time we were in the motor car and ran over a snake. The hawk was there in about 2 seconds. Awesome sight.
Charlie