Hi Tweets,

The Bald Eagle drama off of Magnolia Bluff in Seattle that resulted in
the death of one of the Eagles reminded us of a similar episode that
happened to us several years ago on the beach north of Camp Casey on
Whidbey Island. This time there was a happier ending

?We were attending a NWBIO meeting at Camp Casey when a young couple
rushed in to ask for help with two Eagles that were drowning in an
incoming tide late in the afternoon.?Luckily we had a tarp and some
gloves in the car that we grabbed on our way to help.?The two eagles
were in sad shape as the tide was rapidly engulfing them. They were
completely entangled with four wings, legs and both sets of talons
embedded in each other?s body.?

?We managed to drag them up higher on the beach and covered them with
the tarp. Separating the embedded talons out of their flesh was another
problem.?As soon as we were able to get one talon free that Eagle would
immediately grasp the other Eagle with the freed talon and embed it
into another part of its body. The power and dexterity of an Eagle's
talon was obvious in this situation.

?We solved that problem by placing a piece of driftwood in the freed
talon as soon as possible so that the Eagle would clamp down on the
wood instead of the other Eagle's body.?By systematically prying the
four talons out of each eagle and allowing them to grasp the pieces of
driftwood, the Eagles were finally separated from each other.?We
removed the tarp, but the Eagles, unable to fly because of their
drenched feathers, hopped down the beach in opposite directions and
perched on some driftwood.?The next morning the Eagles were no longer
on the beach, so we assumed that they were able to preen their feathers
dry enough to fly.

?We have observed Eagles doing aerial displays with very close
encounters on many occasions, but usually they separate in the air and
no harm is done. A question that we still have is why does this
happen??Some hypotheses come to mind:

1. The Eagles were fighting over territory and accidentally became
entangled.
2. The Eagles were engaged in mating rituals and become entwined.?Read
?The Dalliance of the Eagles? by Walt Whitman in ? Leaves of Grass?.
3. The Eagles were merely playing and enjoying the wonders of flying in
close formation and accidentally became entangled,
4. A combination of one or more of the above.

?Does any one have other ideas or scientific knowledge on the subject?

?Don and Sandi McVay
Seattle
dmcvay at cmc.net

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