Golden Eagle

 

January 17th

          Golden Eagles are quite rare in Ohio with perhaps a half-dozen sightings a year. They are fairly common in the mountainous areas of the west but are uncommon in the east.  There is a breeding population in northern Quebec and Labrador, and it appears that wintering Ohio Golden Eagles migrate from there.  They can be found along the Lake Erie shoreline on the coldest of days and during Spring and Fall migration.

          There was a report of a Golden Eagle near Castalia, so we decided to chase the bird.  We arrived in the general area about 10:30am and talked with some birders who had seen the bird earlier, but it had flown away.  It was snowing and the visibility was terrible.  We looked around but couldn’t see anything. 

          After a pit stop and a look at the Castalia Pond, we went back to find the eagle.  We talked to another birder who had seen him ten minutes earlier, but the eagle had flown. Mike was ready to tear out his remaining hair!   We sat by the side of the road to eat our lunch.  We noticed a car down the road with his flashers on, so we went to investigate.  He thought he had the Golden Eagle, but it was only a Bald Eagle.  As we were standing there looking at the Bald Eagle, in flew the Golden Eagle.  Once again, the birding gods were looking out for us!  This was a very special bird and an Ohio lifer for us.  (1 new species, total 105)

Golden Eagle (scarce) 

                                       Golden Eagle

                                       curious White-tailed Deer
 
 

Comments

  1. LuannJanuary 19, 2022 at 9:38 AM

    I didn't even know there was a Golden Eagle! Very cool that you got a photo of it.

    ReplyDelete

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