Bald Eagle?

[Reel Tune]

That's awesome, they are such beautiful creatures.

Last time I was below the Old Hickory dam I saw one, and I've also seen one at the TWRA Williamsport Lakes. I have yet to catch one with the camera ready. At Williamsport I wanted to get in position to have the eagle in the background as I was holding up a fish, or just fishing, but couldn't get setup.

[bd-]

There is a resident pair on the lower Caney that have raised one or two youngsters every spring for the last several years. They always seem to stick around, though the young birds always seem to leave at the end of the season. I didn't see the resident birds around anywhere last fall though - I hope they are okay.

It's interesting that the eagle in the original post was photographed around Cedar Creek. I hadn't ever seen one in that area, though admittedly it's been several years since I've fished there. I used to get over that way more years ago when I bass fished more.

The other place where I always see bald eagles in the winter is on Dale Hollow. I haven't seen any resident birds there - I think they all just fly down for the winter. But from November through about March or April there seem to be eagles on the lower end of the lake near the dam pretty consistently.

bd

[Catchingtrout]

I have several pictures of Balds on OHL from years past. I haven't seen them in warmer weather, but January, February and early March you can bet they will show themselves. I have some really nice photo's and video of Golden eagles on the lower Caney

[bd-]

I have never seen a golden eagle on the Caney. That would be an extremely rare sight. They did release a few in the area around Cordell Hull lake in the 1990s though, so it's certainly possible. I thought I saw one once, but when I got closer I realized it was just a juvenile bald eagle. The young bald eagles don't have their white plumage for their first year or so and they can look very similar to a golden.

Golden eagle:



Juvenile bald eagle:



Tough to tell apart.

bd

[90titans89]

So Cool! Thanks for sharing.

[MNfisher]

Wow, I didn't realize Bald Eagles were that rare down here. In MN, we saw them all the time and didn't even really acknowledge them when we came across them. They were very common. Interesting.

[Catchingtrout]

Caney Fork Goldens

[FOXZILLA]

I saw two bald eagles in the HH area of the Caney on Feb. 21. Very cool.

[Mike Anderson]

Those are most definitely young Bald Eagles not Goldens.

[tnridgerunner]

I'm glad to have them, whatever they are. Mike, is there an easy way to tell the difference between an immature bald and a golden?

[Mike Anderson]

Originally Posted by tnridgerunner

I'm glad to have them, whatever they are. Mike, is there an easy way to tell the difference between an immature bald and a golden?

No not really unless you can get good close ups, or see the parents... I'm just pretty familiar with this pair. They have a nest that needs not be revealed on a public forum, where I've been watching and photographing this pair, their mom and dad, and their older brothers and sisters for several years now.

[Mike Anderson]

[tnridgerunner]

Several years ago I used to see a pair of what I believe to be goldens maybe five miles from the Caney. They seemed to be more oriented toward small mammals than fish below the dam, which the balds prefer.

Some of my neighbors around Center Hill are very protective of eagles, so people shouldn't get any bad thoughts about trophy hunting or anything of that sort. These neighbors are always armed and most of them are very good shots. You won't always see them, but they see you.

[Mike Anderson]

I think that the younger eagles all prefer small land mammal's when they are first learning to catch live prey. A failed attempt in the water could be fatal.

One day on Percy Priest I was watching an Osprey flying back to his perch with a Shad he had just caught. Suddenly a mature Bald Eagle shows up flying full speed out of nowhere and smacked head on into the Ospey knocking the fish loose. Both birds fell several feet but recovered before hitting the water. The Eagle recovered the fish. That, was a very cool sighting and evidently not uncommon.
I've also seen Eagles lock talons way up in the air and spirial down several feet while holding on to each other.

There's an abundance of natural wonder all around us all the time. All you have to do is look for it. Like this Butterfly dive bombing an Osprey!

[bd-]

Originally Posted by tnridgerunner

Mike, is there an easy way to tell the difference between an immature bald and a golden?

There is only one way I know of to tell, and it's not easy.

If you see the eagle with its leg extended, you can look at the feathering on the lower leg.

A juvenile bald eagle will have bare skin for a few inches up from the foot - basically a bare "ankle."

A golden eagle's leg, on the other hand, will be feathered all the way to the base of the toes.

This is tough because when eagles perch, they often do so with their body huddled over their feet so you can't see the "ankle" area. For instance, on the photo of the juvenile bald eagle I posted up above, the eagle's body feathers block the view of the lower leg.

On the other hand, you can see that Catchingtrout's picture is definitely a pair of juvenile bald eagles because the one on the right has his leg extended, and you can see that the dark brown feathers stop a couple inches above the foot.

I did some reading to see how long a juvenile bald eagle keeps the brown plumage, and I found that sometimes they don't gain the full adult black-and-white plumage until they're 4 or 5 years old. Therefore, with the nesting pair of adult bald eagles on the Caney producing one or two young eagles a year, and the rarity of goldens in this part of the country, I'd think the assumption weighs heavily that any dark brown eagle in that area is more likely to be a juvenile bald eagle rather than a golden.

Like I said, it's possible that a golden might show up in the area, but it wouldn't be common.

As far as forage, bald eagles (especially adults) do prefer fish but they're not picky. They will even eat carrion if it's available. Up in Alaska they're kind of famous for hanging out around garbage dumps. I saw one at Dale Hollow on the roadside eating a dead racoon once.

bd