> Scott,
> The Golden Eagle behavior you describe is fascinating. I have two
> stories to recount about Golden Eagles that had me both awestruck and
> perplexed at the time. ....

Anecdotes like these are why I like reading tweeters ;^)

> The second golden eagle phenomenon was seen during a 6 day kayaking trip
> on the Green River in Utah. The river goes through some spectacular
> canyon country, with the canyon walls in some places going up in eroded
> steps 2000-4000 feet above the river, sort of like a "mini" Grand Canyon.
> There I saw a pair of golden eagles soaring on the thermals hundreds of feet
> above the canyon rim. The eagles approached each other, not directly but in
> tighter and tighter concentric circles. After a series of piercing
> introductory cries that echoed down the canyon, the eagles suddenly locked
> talons and plummeted more than 2000 feet!! before disengaging only about
> 100-200 feet above the ground. I was stunned and frankly don't recall
> what the eagles did after that (they didn't do it again). This
> immediately precipitated a rash of speculation on whether these were
> (potential) mates or possibly rivals and on the "why" of it, but I still
> don't really know. Anyone out there care to speculate if this is
> "courtship" behavior?
>
> Tom Cotner
> tcotner at u.washington.edu
> Dept. of Pediatrics, U. of Washington
> (206) 543-6755

In March of '94, my wife and I were at the Padilla Bay Visitors Center (or
words to that effect...), on one of Bud Anderson's field trips. We watched
two Bald Eagles lock talons and tumble for a few seconds. One eagle then
chased the other for 100 yards or so. Bud interpreted this behaviour as a
territory battle. The chase definitely seemed to end at a particular
"boundary".

What time of year was your raft trip?

dean
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