eagle tales

This is one of the many exquisite photos taken by Peter Ashman here in Kodiak. See more of his work here.

I have observed some interesting eagle behavior over the last few days. These up close and personal observations are probably the result of the fact that there are more eagles here then I have ever seen in my life. This spring they have been flocking around town, standing sentry around the canneries and the boat harbors.

Bruce calls this one my "Wyld Amaricah" moment (imagine Bruce doing a Marty Stouffer impression here)...

Last Friday afternoon I had just returned to my desk from lunch when I looked out my window. I saw a juvenile eagle carrying a freshly killed sea gull in his mouth, supporting it with his feet as he flew. He made a landing on the roof of the American Legion building, just across the alleyway from my window, dropping the gull in the process.

The gull plummeted to the ground, hitting the pavement beak first. The eagle started screaming and making a fuss and he was soon joined by three or four other, adult eagles, who accompanied him in his noisy protest. The birds didn't want to fly down to get the gull-it must have been too congested for them in the parking area. A woman then came walking by to enter the Legion, leading her small dog. I prepared myself for the worst, afraid the eagles might swoop down for the dog, but the woman saw the dead gull and hustled her pet inside.

Moments later, a man came out of the Legion with a trash bag. He stomped on the gull's head, making sure it was dead, scooped it up and dropped it in the nearby dumpster. Geez! All of the eagles flew away, except for one straggler who remained, yelling to whomever would listen about the injustice that she had just observed. I sat there with my mouth hanging open as the entire incident unfolded. It was intense.

Then, this morning, driving with Bruce to the airport for his trip to Ouzinkie, we nearly hit an eagle on the highway. As we came around a bend in the road we saw some ravens sitting along the center line. As expected, they flew up out of the way as we approached. I could see some small road kill smeared along the pavement. Just as we were about to drive past the remains,

a eagle dove in for a closer look and Bruce had to swerve onto the shoulder to avoid its giant wings.

Never a dull moment...

Another shot by Peter Ashman.