[Tweeters] Drama on the Dock

[Mason Flint via Tweeters]

One of my favorite stories was watching two eagles taking turns swooping over Lake Sammamish while a coot repeatedly dove.

Eventually one of the eagles got the timing right and grabbed the coot. As it flew toward a big fir tree next to our house, the eagle accidentally dropped its prey which then bounced off our roof and landed at our feet, deceased.

My son looked down at the dead coot and then up at me and said “Well, I guess that happens.”

Wise beyond his years. 😀

Mason Flint
Bellevue, WA
________________________________
From: Tweeters <tweeters-bounces at mailman11.u.washington.edu> on behalf of Dennis Paulson via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Monday, December 23, 2024 6:50:50 AM
To: TWEETERS tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Cc: Jon Houghton <jonbirder at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Drama on the Dock

Bald Eagles hunt diving birds everywhere. I’ve seen them after grebes and ducks and especially coots in Lake Washington. I think they can see them underwater, although unlike Ospreys, they’re not good at hovering, so they have to pass over the spot again and again until they get lucky.

I love seeing predation interactions in nature, but I’ll admit that when I see an eagle after a bird like that, I’m usually rooting for the prey. And sometimes the eagle goes away without a meal.

Dennis Paulson
Seattle

On Dec 23, 2024, at 8:24 AM, HAL MICHAEL via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu<mailto:tweeters at u.washington.edu>> wrote:

It's also possible that the eagle could see where the duck was swimming; they do have excellent eyesight.

Hal Michael
Board of Directors, Ecologists Without Borders<http://ecowb.org/>
Olympia WA
360-459-4005
360-791-7702 (C)
ucd880 at comcast.net<mailto:ucd880 at comcast.net>


On 12/22/2024 9:15 PM PST Hans-Joachim Feddern via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu<mailto:tweeters at u.washington.edu>> wrote:


We once watched an adult Bald Eagle at the park just north of Steilacoom trying to to catch a female Common Goldeneye. Whenever the eagle swooped in for the kill, the goldeneye would dive. Unfortunately she would always surface within a small circle and the eagle knew this and was right on her. If she would have only resurfaced with some distance, the eagle would have not known where to attack next. The duck eventually tired and stayed on the surface a little too long and the eagle got her. Here again the eagle was unable to lift off the water with it’s prey and ended up “rowing” with a lot of wing flapping about a 100 yards to shore where it started plucking the hard earned lunch.

Hans Feddern
Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA
thefedderns at gmail.com<mailto:thefedderns at gmail.com>


On Sun, Dec 22, 2024 at 5:03 PM Jon Houghton via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu<mailto:tweeters at u.washington.edu>> wrote:
Hi Tweets - Last week we witnessed an interesting look at how nature and Bald Eagles work. We were on the end of the Edmonds fishing pier watching an adult eagle make repeated low passes at a specific point in the water, extending its legs and talons into the water at the nadir of each pass.  On about the fourth pass, we noticed a quick appearance at the surface by Red-necked Grebe which had been the target all along, unseen by us, but obviously seen by the eagle each time it approached the surface for a breath. On that last pass, the eagle nailed it and held it underwater, with the eagle's body about half underwater itself.  The eagle then did a breast stroke, using its wings in a rotating motion, to drag its still unseen prey to the breakwater where he hauled it out and devoured it.  I've seen eagles do this before when they capture a salmon too large to fly with.  Happy Birding!

Jon Houghton, Edmonds
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