Birds and Nature

I spotted this immature Bald Eagle about a quarter mile from the Arkansas River on the far east side of Canon City, perched several hundred yards from the road over an agricultural field where a flock of Canada Geese were feeding. I found a somewhat closer road to photograph this bird from but it was about 300 feet away so I had to crop the pic severely to show the plumage. I believe this is a second year eagle in Basic/Sub Adult I plumage for showing these field marks from Birds of North America online: "Crown tan contrasting sharply with blackish-brown ear coverts;" "median and greater upperwing coverts brownish olive and variably mottled white";"most individuals with inverted triangular patch of white mottling on the mantle;". SeEtta

Last week I saw this Bald Eagle perched on a utility pole just under a hundred feet from the road. I carefully stopped, stayed in my car to use it as a 'blind' and go these two photos. I am happy to report that after I drove off the eagle was still there, undisturbed by my presence. The fun thing about this sighting is this was far from open water (nearby Brush Hollow Res was frozen over)where this species is most often found. Instead it was perched over a prairie dog town, an alternate food source to their more frequent food choice of fish. They do predate on prairie dogs. I believe this eagle is a sub adult IV, or 4th year bird. It has a number of dark markings visible amongst the otherwise white feathers on it's head but has he yellow bill and pale yellow iris found on adult and near adult birds. SeEtta

During the winter Bald Eagles move south to areas with open water and the Arkansas River through the Bighorn Canyon is always open for at least much of the way even in severe winters. I was disappointed to find only this one Bald Eagle but this is around the time they start migrating back north. Sorry for not getting good close-ups but this eagle was perched about 350 feet away. This is a subadult IV, meaning it is an eagle in it's 4th year. While some eagles attain full adult plumage at this age some, like this bird are only close. It has dark smudges on it's yellow bill, it's white head and neck have dark markings, some white feathering on both it's body and flight feathers, some retained white splotches on it's belly and flanks, and dark markings on it's tail feathers. SeEtta