Subject: Bald Eagles take an Immature Glaucous-Winged Gull
Date: Jan 6 21:57:10 2003
From: Rick Taylor - taylorrl at mindspring.com
Tweeters,
Yesterday, 1-6-03, my wife and I visited the Everett Harbor at the boat launch across from Jetty Island. We watched 2 mature Bald Eagles taking turns harrassing an immature G-W Gull. At first we throught that the Eagles were trying to steal food from the gull. After several passes at the gull, it was apparent that they really wanted the gull. The gull was able to turn tighter than the eagles and avoid them. It even tried diving into the water to avoid them. The 2 eagles took turns making passes at the gull. After about 7 minutes, one of the eagles hit the gull. After a couple of more misses, the other eagle hit it and attempted to carry it off. The gull still had some fight in it an persueded the eagle to release it. Both eagles then perched on pilings and waited for about 15 minutes as the wounded gull weakened. One of the eagles then hit the gull on the water and carried it back to the piling for lunch. It was interesting that they cooperated in the hunt; yet, only one of the birds enjoyed the meal. The other thing that I found interesting is that they went after a rather fiesty gull while there were at least a hundred American Wigeon in the same area.
Rick Taylor
Everett