The eagle has landed

[FarmerDave]

Something very cool happened on the farm on Sunday that I would like to share. It was a beautiful day, and I was playing with one of my dogs down at the pond, tossing a stick into the water for him to retrieve. On the second toss, a bald eagle swooped down at the pond as the dog started out for the stick. It almost looked like it was after the stick. I doubt it would be interested in a 40 pound dog, but even that crossed my mind for a second. Those birds are huge. I didn't even see him until he was about 100 feet away, give or take. Man those birds are impressive up close. I yelled to the wife to check it out. She was watching from the deck (~120 yards). It then flew over and landed in a tree about 150 yards away from me. The dog brought the stick back, but then he remembered that a chicken he had been chasing earlier needed more excercise. At that point I left the pond to the eagle which was still sitting in the tree. As soon as i walked around the barn, the wife started yelling "he's back!!" I didn't see him this time because the barn was in the way, but she told me that the eagle landed on the pond and carried away a fish. Very cool thing to see in your own back yard.

Have I ever mention that I love this place? ;-)

I normally don't allow fishing without permission, but in these cases i make exceptions. :-D

 

[JackM]

An Eagle in Ohio? I hope it finds its way back to more hospitable territory! 😎

 

[littlejuniata]

I had three SCREAMING EAGLES fly over the house the other day, fighter jets, twin engines, they usually just come straight over with the hammer down. Man I love that sound!! This time they banked directly over the house wings nearly vertical, returned to the breast area then came roaring back over the house. That was AWESOME

 

[JustFish]

A couple of years ago I saw one hovering over my friends lake. We started to fish for largemouth and continued to watch it overhead of us. Finally in swooped down and gripped up a fish and flew off! It is definitely amazing to witness that.

 

[Maurice]

In the spirit of Hijacking....I too saw an eagle yesterday. My son passed his Board of Review and is now officially an Eagle Scout.

Not to take anything away from your sighting Dave but I'm mighty proud....

 

[FarmerDave]

Congratulations to your son Maurice. That is quite an accomplishment.

 

[FarmerDave]

JackM wrote:
An Eagle in Ohio? I hope it finds its way back to more hospitable territory! 😎

Hey, I thought I was quite hospitable. I moved on and let him fish the hole by himself, didn't I? Besides, He obviously knows that even though he was in Ohio (by only about 5 miles), the owner is not an Ohesian. :-D

I see them occasionally on the farm, but this was the closest.

I had a sighting a few years back that was just as impressive to me... I was sitting in a tree stand, and a great horned owl landed in a tree not more than 40 feet away.

 

[eballat]

My dad just had 300 trout stocked into the pond behind his house. However he doesnt enjoy catching them or feeding them. He enjoys watching the nesting pair of Osprey come down about 8 times a day and whack the trout out of the pond. Its truly an awesome site to see. They arent as big as a bald eagle but they are pretty big all the same. I once saw one take a 25 inch channel cat out of his pond and fly it to the top of a 60 ft. Hemlock tree. Strong birds too.

 

[MattBoyer]

They are very cool to see. I get the chance to see the ones in Clark's Valley quite a bit and they are just amazing birds. One day around ten years ago I was fishing the headwaters and heard a thunderous crash coming from the tree I was standing under. It sounded like a full grown man falling from the sky and hitting the top of the tree. I looked up in time to see a big golden, medium sized beaver in talons taking off from the tree top. I've tried for years to get a good picture of the baldies, but the link below is the best I've gotten. The amazing thing is that every summer, I think it's around July, a solitary golden, and a huge one at that in recent years, will show up and we won't see the baldies for a few weeks, then the golden moves on and the baldies come back. I know it sounds like an exaggeration, but man, he's gotta have a ten foot span. I would hide out for a bit, too when he came around.

Boyer