Mark:

On Pine Lake, we've had a couple of Bald Eagles hanging around for the past
few days, and watched as they repeatedly circle and dive at various
waterfowl. On Saturday, one of the eagles honed in on a male bufflehead, and dove at
him until he just wore the poor thing down. Finally, the eagle landed in the
lake where the buff went under, and just sat there for about three or four
minutes. Once he was sure his prey had been drowned, he easily lifted up out of
the lake and flew off with the buff in his talons.

It isn't unusual to see the eagles bothering the waterfowl, but this is the
first success we've witnessed. Still, I figured drowning was far more humane
than picking apart live prey. Ewww.

Linda Davey
on Pine Lake
Sammamish, WA

In a message dated 1/15/2007 5:56:38 PM Pacific Standard Time,
mneudorf at cox.net writes:

Living near Puget Sound on the North end of Edmonds we are used to seeing
BALD EAGLES fly by a few times a day. This morning, however, was a first. I
spotted an eagle landing in a nearby Maple tree and ran to get the camera when
I noticed the bird had some prey with it. I first thought it was a fish,
but then saw in was a sea bird. On close look I decided it was a Mallard. I
have never seen Mallards in the Sound in front of our house so I was a bit
confused. A neighbor said there is a pond in the neighborhood that has had
"tame" mallards. Maybe they provided the feast. I had always thought the Bald
Eagles ate only fish, but a quick check of the field guides indicate they eat
birds when near the coast. So I have learned something for the day.

Pictues are at
http://picasaweb.google.com/MarkNeudorfer/PugetSoundWinter200607


Mark Neudorfer
Edmonds, WA
mneudorf at cox.net
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