Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Wordless Wednesday: Bald Eagle Visitor

 
The snow had stopped, but the high winds continued to blow.  My mail crew - Jeffie and Rudy with their Dog Daddy driver - had driven up to the road to check for mail.
  
They were in high spirits when they came back to the house.  
"Hurry!" yelled the Dog Daddy.  "Get your camera!"
  
I grabbed the camera and my coat, hopped into the car and above is the scene that soon greeted me.

 Yep.  That's a Bald Eagle!









After snapping some pix, we returned to the house and called our local Missouri Conservation Department.  The agent Gary spoke to surmised that this bald eagle probably was unable to fly in the high winds.  He was probably waiting out the storm, on the ground and would take off as soon as the winds died down.  

I wish there was something in the photos to give you a real indication of this bird's size:  BIG.  One of the largest birds of prey in the world, bald eagles have a 6 1/2 to 8 foot wingspan and are 3 to 3 1/2 feet tall.

Missouri  is one of the leading bald eagle states.  In the fall, thousands of bald eagles migrate south from their nesting range in Canada and the Great Lakes states to hunt around the open waters of Missouri's rivers and large lakes.  

More than 2,000 bald eagles are reported in Missouri regularly during winter, but very few are seen around our area of the Ozarks.

Later that afternoon the winds did die down and our visitor was gone.


17 comments:

  1. Wonderful photos! I've seen bald eagles around Florida many times but have never gotten anywhere near close enough to take pictures like these...What a lucky day for you!

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  2. Hey Rudy, Hey Jeffie, Jet here. Hi Miss Sue.

    What an amazing Christmas gift! We have eagles here in Miami. They typically nest in the electrical towers. The nests are complex and beautiful. Not sure if the eagles are bald or golden, however, we rarely see the birds, we usually see the nests.

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  3. Gorgeous! And what a wonderful opportunity to see one up close. I have only seen them in flight. They really are beautiful birds.

    Oh, and Merry Christmas! Hope the rest of your day proved just as wonder-full. :)

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  4. That's really cool that you got to see him and take pictures too!

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  5. Isn't it amazing how big they are? We get bald eagles in our area all the time. And blue herons too (I can't stand those birds). If we need a fix, we can go along the river to watch them hanging out on the river edges. They're so beautiful. Two next near our home and you can get pretty close before they take off.

    Kimberly

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  6. There have only been 3 nests seen in our county ever! All three were years ago and near one of the big rivers (which in nowhere near us). So, this was pretty exciting :-)

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  7. Awesome photo Sue!! Do you know why they call them bald?

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    1. What a good question! According to the MO Dept of Conservation http://mdc.mo.gov The term "black" refers to the Old English word "balde" meaning white, rather than without feathers. The scientific name, Haliaeetus leucoephalis, means white-headed sea eagle.

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  8. WOW!! That was incredible! I bet he is a sign of good luck!

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    1. Let's hope so. I can use all the good luck I can get! :-)

      Many Native American tribes consider the bald eagle (as well as the golden eagle) to be sacred and that the eagle was chosen by the Creator as the master of the skies. It's believed the eagle works as a messenger for the Creator, carrying the prayers of human beings from the earth world to the spirit world.

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  9. Wow how awesome! Those picures are great!

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  10. Amazing!! What a holiday treat :)

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  11. OMG that's amazing! I saw one of these on one of my trips earlier this summer, unfortunately, I was zooming down the highway tooo fast, lol

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  12. Wow, I didn't realize they are that big. 3 ft. tall. You got some great pictures of him. You must have a good camera. What fun to see him. Have a great evening.

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  13. Hi Y'all,

    In addition to the sea birds, we have bald eagles who nest in the trees near our house at the shore. Course we also have alligators...

    Y'all come by now,
    Hawk aka BrownDog

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  14. That's a breathtaking thing to see. I can't remember the last time I saw a Bald Eagle. All we've seen today is snow, snow and more snow.

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  15. How beautiful! That is wonderful that you were able to capture him with your camera!

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Go ahead... bark at us!