Wicked big Eagle or Hawk in the back yard

[griehund]

Huge like a big Turkey or a Vulture.

 

[killdeer43]

Looks like an immature Bald Eagle from here....+/- 3,000 miles as the eagle flies! :lol:
*Third year, to be precise.

Joe

 

[killdeer43]

You're south/southeast of the Quabbin Res., which I've seen to be good habitat for Bald Eagles.
Lots of nesting potential and good fishing, too. :wink:

Joe

 

[griehund]

Looks like an immature Bald Eagle from here....+/- 3,000 miles as the eagle flies! :lol:
*Third year, to be precise.

Joe

Wow that was fast. I just went up stairs to tell my wife we'll know soon.

If I ask him he will say he's 3 1/2.

Please do not send recipes. Said baby bird has left the premises.

 

[griehund]

You're south/southeast of the Quabbin Res., which I've seen to be good habitat for Bald Eagles.
Lots of nesting potential and good fishing, too. :wink:

Joe

We're down the street and across Rt 9 from the Quabbin. My 6 mile run takes me over the Windsor dam. The family property borders the Swift River which runs into the Quabbin. Lots of deer, bear and other wild critters. Lots of hiking trails and great fishing if you have the patience for that sort of thing. I consider myself lucky to live here.

 

[Thunderface]

Looks like an immature Bald Eagle from here....+/- 3,000 miles as the eagle flies! :lol:
*Third year, to be precise.

Joe

Damn! You're good! 8)

 

[CA-35]

Looks like an immature Bald Eagle from here....+/- 3,000 miles as the eagle flies! :lol:
*Third year, to be precise.Joe

"I'll take Ornithologist for a 1000 Alex"
"OK and the answer is who can name a bird species and it's age, from a so-so photo, through the branches and leaves, and with only three flight feathers visible?"

"Why that would be who is Joe Meche of course!" :lol:

Nice ID Joe.

 

[killdeer43]

You're south/southeast of the Quabbin Res., which I've seen to be good habitat for Bald Eagles.
Lots of nesting potential and good fishing, too. :wink:

Joe

We're down the street and across Rt 9 from the Quabbin. My 6 mile run takes me over the Windsor dam. The family property borders the Swift River which runs into the Quabbin. Lots of deer, bear and other wild critters. Lots of hiking trails and great fishing if you have the patience for that sort of thing. I consider myself lucky to live here.

I've hiked on the north and east sides of the Quabbin and decided that I could enjoy living close by.

And speaking of 3rd year Bald Eagles, here's one of mine from a month earlier than yours.

It helps to have it out in the open, and it doesn't get more open than this! :wink:

Cheers,
Joe

 

[Brad Little]

Please do not send recipes. Said baby bird has left the premises.

Reminds me of Stan Freberg's Thanksgiving story, the eagle/turkey part starts around 3:40.
Brad

 

[poser]

Looks like an immature Bald Eagle from here....+/- 3,000 miles as the eagle flies! :lol:
*Third year, to be precise.

Joe

Let's turn this into an education opportunity. (Sorry it's the teacher in me.)
Joe, what were the features that helped you identify it as an immature bald eagle?

 

[killdeer43]

Looks like an immature Bald Eagle from here....+/- 3,000 miles as the eagle flies! :lol:
*Third year, to be precise.

Joe

Let's turn this into an education opportunity. (Sorry it's the teacher in me.)
Joe, what were the features that helped you identify it as an immature bald eagle?

Well, by process of elimination, you know it's a Bald Eagle and you can tell that it's not an adult, so you can start there.
Key field marks like the dark eye stripe and the whitening cap and throat tell you that this particular bird is in its third year of development. Bald Eagles attain their final adult plumage after four years.

And just like playing guitar, practice is the key! :wink:

Do I have to stay after school? :shock:

Joe

 

[poser]

Thanks. I was guessing it was the reported size, the yellowish beak and the stripe through the eye. Maybe the beak color isn't too important. :?

Do I have to stay after school? :shock:
Joe

Heck no. , In this situation, you're the teacher. :wink:

 

[Bill Ashton]

I have seen two bald eagles when driving alongside the Deerfield River enroute to get children at college...one was in a tree, across the river and he or she just looked MASSIVE from even that far away...another one was flying those hunting circles overhead, pretty close to the same place...looked like a small bomber!

Based upon the head to body ratio I was going to go with an eagle, but never would have gotten so far as to say "bald."

 

[killdeer43]

Something to keep in mind, female raptors are larger than the males, so if you see an eagle that strikes you as "MASSIVE" it's probably a female. :wink:

*And in your neck of the country, Bill, most likely a bald.

Just sayin',
Joe

 

[hagmeat]

Cool, wish we had those around these parts.

 

[6L6]

Very cool indeed!

 

[Guitarfish]

Yessir, truly wild is beautiful. And such lucky people to be close to this.

If I can relate my recent encounter; I live in your typical small city, loud traffic type area with a little garden haven backyard. Anyway, while sitting just inside my back door I saw a flash, heard a brief scuffle, a puff of feathers and low and behold there sat a bird of prey of falcon size grasping a poor sparrow. You could tell there was no escaping the talons. The falcon looked at me with an almost bored expression and flew off with his bounty. Needless to say I was jazzed. Our typical wildlife encounter is a treefrog or bluebelly lizard. :lol:

 

[poser]

Yessir, truly wild is beautiful. And such lucky people to be close to this.

If I can relate my recent encounter; I live in your typical small city, loud traffic type area with a little garden haven backyard. Anyway, while sitting just inside my back door I saw a flash, heard a brief scuffle, a puff of feathers and low and behold there sat a bird of prey of falcon size grasping a poor sparrow. You could tell there was no escaping the talons. The falcon looked at me with an almost bored expression and flew off with his bounty. Needless to say I was jazzed. Our typical wildlife encounter is a treefrog or bluebelly lizard. :lol:

Neat story. Wild life sightings in urban areas are fun. My Dad lives in a pretty densely populated suburban area. He has a small backyard with a few trees along the property line. I was visiting him over Christmas and looked up to see a pileated woodpecker fanatically chiseling out a large hole in one of the trees. I tried to get some pictures and even a video, but my camera ( :roll: ) was not up to the task.

 

[killdeer43]

I was visiting him over Christmas and looked up to see a pileated woodpecker fanatically chiseling out a large hole in one of the trees. I tried to get some pictures and even a video, but my camera ( :roll: ) was not up to the task.

I love visual aids, so here's the big boy, now. :wink:

Pileated Woodpecker, male

One of the more impressive birds out there! :wink:

Joe

 

[rampside]

I was visiting him over Christmas and looked up to see a pileated woodpecker fanatically chiseling out a large hole in one of the trees. I tried to get some pictures and even a video, but my camera ( :roll: ) was not up to the task.

I love visual aids, so here's the big boy, now. :wink:

Pileated Woodpecker, male

One of the more impressive birds out there! :wink:

Joe

Holy cow, interesting coincidence. A Pileated Woodpecker was in my yard not 2 hours ago, checking the dying trees for some dinner. First one I've seen this year.
A very small and young feral cat was also cruising the yard in the deep snow at the same time and it noticed the woodpecker also. It was quite comical watching the cat as it was obviously thinking it actually had a shot at this bird twice it's size. :lol: