Osprey 1, Imm. Bald Eagle 0 - experience vs. youth (1 Viewer)

Since this forum is about raptors I'd like to share this sequence of events I witnessed last year at Cachuma Lake in Santa Barbara County, California.

Bald and Golden Eagles winter here, along with Osprey and the usual host of hawks and falcons.

While crusing the lake I noticed an immature baldy soaring along the hillside. Suddenly an Osprey appeared at 12 o'clock and went after the eagle.

As the eagle dodged the first attack it caught a thermal and went towards the top of the hill. The Osprey did the same thing, went up a bit more and gave the eagle a final look before gaining more altitude. The last image shows the eagle looking back as the Osprey gets ready to hit.

Once the eagle was gone the Osprey went back to its perch on a tree at the very top of the hill. Age and experience certainly held it's own on this day. All of this took place in about a two minutes.

Osprey begins the attack - http://www.dosgatos.com/birds/digi/osprey&baldy-1.jpg
Eagle and Osprey separate for a second go at it - http://www.dosgatos.com/birds/digi/osprey&baldy-2.jpg
Osprey going in for the final hit - http://www.dosgatos.com/birds/digi/osprey&baldy-3.jpg

Galvan

For some reason the 2nd and 3rd links are not opening, which is a shame as I was looking forward to seeing the sequence of events.

osprey vs. eagle

John,

Try again. Had two typos in the links.

t

I would have loved to have been there to witness that. Funnily enough I have just started a thread regarding "What have you witnessed" in the Birds and birding forum.

This story would have fitted in well.

Hey galvan, that is quite the photo journal recording. So I have to ask, did the eagle fair okay?

Brian, the eagle was fine; minus a few feathers. It never looked back. The Osprey went back to its tree at the top of the hillside overlooking the lake. Next to watching a Great Blue Heron nail a gopher and fly away with it in its crop this one event is also on the list.

Great action sequence Galvan. An Osprey fighting an eagle is not something you see every day. Or do you? Cachuma lake sound quite a hotspot for raptors!

Beautiful photos of a very interesting event. Thanks for posting them.

Merci Paul et Paul 42,

The raptor cycle varies at Cachuma Lake each winter. There is at least one resident Bald Eagle pair and perhaps Golden in the area. The majority of the eagles show up around the end of November and may stay through March. Along with Osprey and other raptors the viewing is highlighted by birds which may be passing through during the winter months.

This has included White Pelicans, Scoters and Black Skimmers, to name a few.

The eagle count data is sent to the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research group, who have been compiling state-wide data for over 20 years. Their website is [http://www.scpbrg.org/]. Certain birds have been tracked over the years showing their summer month range in the northern states and Canada and flying down south for the winter. The site has some nice links showing tracking data if you're interested.

In my other post regarding the Golden Eagle problems on the Channel Islands I should also point out that it's not unusual to see immature Goldens in the Santa Barbara/Goleta area. This is an urban area on the coast and one mountain range (elevation 3400 feet) from Cachuma Lake.

It seems the immatures haven't become wary of civilization yet and seem to be curious.

With respect to this event, from the markings on the eagle, it looked to be at least a two or three year birds. Someone else in the forum may be able to do a better job of aging it. I do have some better wing shots which show the plummage in better detail.

For all of you, Cachuma Lake is about 150 miles from Los Angeles, a 2 1/2 hour drive. So, should you find yourself in Los Angeles and wish to experience the central coast I invite you to visit Santa Barbara County and Cachuma Lake.

t

galvan, regarding your note on the immatures not be wary yet, I have been able to get my closest photos of immatures. So, I have found the same thing.

P.S. Oops, just remembered that is not 100% true. I do have one adult Bald Eagle in my gallery (and I think posted under this forum as well) that I was only about 25 feet away. But that was only once, and I have taken a number of immature shots within 40 yards.

The experience factor may also be related to where the bird was in the pecking order while in the nest. Those down at the bottom of the order tend to shy away from situations quicker than those at the top.

Red-shouldered hawks around here act more like coyotes and let you get in closer than the Red-tailed hawk. Could be an urbanization thing too since they are adaptive to their food sources over time.

There are certainly more immatures which perch on trees by the shore than adults. The adults tend to go higher on the hillsides and only fly down while fishing or stealing from an Osprey.

If other folks have noticed the same pattern with immature baldies then there might be study in the making here.

Galvan,

Here, we do not get the Red-shouldered (unfortunately), but the red-taileds let you get the closest. They are also the most numerous (other than Am. Kestrels, which do not let you get too close), so it may be the urbanization thing going on.