[va-richmond-general] Re: Fw: GOLDEN EAGLE!!!!!
- From: "IE Ries" <featherchaser@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 22:37:52 -0400
THanks for the heads-up, though the "falcon sightings" out in Chesterfield
would have to be our City Peregrins or Kestrals, I suspect. I also wonder if
this was a very young, immature Baldie? In any case, I'm glad he got to see
that and I will certainly keep my eyes open over the weekend as I plan to be
hiking in that area.
Question: Are wild birds ever really "lost?" ;)
Irene in Southside
----- Original Message -----
From: Robin Ruth
To: va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2005 1:34 AM
Subject: [va-richmond-general] Fw: GOLDEN EAGLE!!!!!
A report of a Golden Eagle in Chesterfield.
----- Original Message -----
From: Rob Haener
To: audubon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2005 4:53 PM
Subject: GOLDEN EAGLE!!!!!
Holy Cats! A golden eagle the size of an aircraft carrier just flew 10 or
12 feet above my head while I was mowing just ahead of the rain. The wingspan,
as judged conveniently by the six foot wide wagon he flew very low over, nearly
brushing the edges of it on both sides with his wingtips, was well over six
feet. His beak was mostly yellowish, but had darker coloring at the edges, and
the head was magnificently large, with a golden huge eye looking directly
through me. What a monster!
I just thought that the local birders might want to keep a weather eye out
for this guy, if he's lost. I am between Newby's Bridge Rd and Couthouse Rd on
Burnett Dr, and my land is 1000 feet long, so I got a long look at him in
flight. The direction of his travel seemed to be consistently east by
southeast, and he never came back to feed on the disturbed rodents and insects
where I mowed a large field. He had been perched in an apple tree, and when he
took off, the whole tree violently flopped side to side. I wonder why he was
in a tree so low, when there are hundreds of taller perches all around.
We have seen the occasional lost osprey here, and many falcons, hawks and
turkey buzzards, and there is a great horned owl as well as a smaller, more
obnoxious owl in our woods, but this is the first eagle I have ever seen, and
he was close enough for me to see the interlocking ridges of his feathers, the
flakes of beak material on the side of his beak, and his empty talons trailing
behind him. HUGE!!!! What a bird!
I just had to tell you folks about it.
Rob Haener in Chesterfield.
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