Rare eagles Redux

This fall and winter has been a very good year so far to see bald eagles along the Grand River in Cambridge.   Some of the eagles below almost certainly appear in two or three photographs here and one of the two videos.   I have been in the right place at the right time several times the last few weeks, watching as various eagles have soared right over me (see my video below), or perched high in a clifftop tree opposite the town of Preston in the City of Cambridge.  There are a couple of good photos in earlier posts, specifically in "The Green Heart of Waterloo Region."   This area is an incredibly diverse region, and for me, one of the highlights are the various birds of prey that call the area home.  In particular, the ornery pair of osprey (above) that call rare home from late April to October 1st or so every summer, and the eagles that show up in the fall to spend the winter picking off suckers and ducks in the shallows.  

These 2 mallards (top) and the goldeneye duck are a potential supper for a hungry eagle!

15 years ago, photographing just one bald eagle along the Grand River in
Cambridge would have been an extraordinary event.  Now, however, there are many
eagles that appear in the area starting in the fall.  I saw at least one eagle
four out of five outings down to the Rare Charitable Reserve lands, across the
Grand River from Cambridge, this fall.  Rare (www.raresites.org) monitered these birds
over a  decade's worth of winters, and last year 50 were spotted!  The trails are now
closed to protect the birds-in the winter, conserving body heat is imperative
for any wild animal, and the closures allow space to do this.
  
  However, Cambridge has a wonderful park system along the banks of the Grand,
especially in the burough of Preston, that provides terrific views of the
junction of the Speed River and the Grand, and the Rare lands beyond. 
Waterfowl, hardy songbirds like the blue jay and cardinal, and other birds, like
woodpeckers, are often seen in the parks.  I even heard the crazy chatter of a
belted kingfisher the other day!  And maybe, just maybe, a huge bird with a
wingspan wider than you or I am tall, will glide past you, or see you from it's
perch in a tree.  Perhaps you will see 2 or even more eagles in the same outing. 
It is a sight, and an experience, not soon forgotten, no matter how many times
I see them.

A pair of eagles flying over the Grand River in October.

The same pair. These 2 are also in the second video below.

        In the early 1980's, there were less than a dozen active nests in southern Ontario.  Eagles and many other birds of prey were devastated by DDT and other pesticides.  Today, however, there are well over 3 dozen successful  bald eagle nest sites, and every year sees a few more nests becoming active.  Bird Studies Canada has a terrific bald eagle species page which includes a fascinating Eagle Tracker page.  Their researchers are no longer testing eagles for contaminants, since the levels are now much lower than they have been for many years, which is wonderful news.  
( http://www.birdscanada.org/research/speciesatrisk/baea/index.jsp?targetpg=index&lang=EN)

This eagle was flying north along the Grand as dusk set in.

The yellowish tinge under the tail are the eagle's talons.

A Rare clifftop perch

These 2 flying photos are of the same individual...

Note the yellow talons, capable of 400 psi crushing power!

     The bald eagle population in Ontario north of the French River/Mattawa River geographical divide, plus Algonquin Park and eastern Georgian Bay, has never been a worry for biologists.  Below that line, the eagle population was so low that they were on the MNR Species At Risk list until very recently.  I have seen eagles in the Park, near Powassan, and along the Grand River, and at Lake Huron near Owen Sound flying only a few feet above the blue waters.  The largest bald eagle that I've spotted was a giant black and white specimen on the Saugeen River near Lake Huron that I guesstimated to be at least 3 feet tall with an 8 foot wingspan.  It made the osprey earlier that day look like only an average sized bird.  And in the last couple of years, a young pair has called the Coote's Paradise area-the extreme western portion of Lake Ontario at Hamilton- of the the Royal Botanical Gardens home, although they have not yet produced youngsters.  I have also heard of recent accounts of eagles at Jordan Harbour in Niagara, and in London.  All of this to say that seeing an apex predator of any species-eagle, owl, wolf, bear, etc., is a unique experience, not easily forgotton, especially when there are only a few dozen in a vast region. 
     Enjoy the winter wonders of creation, eh! 
     Uncle Travelling Dan 
     

A friendly reminder...there are still good areas to see eagles on the Grand, like Linear Park in Preston. http://www.cambridge.ca/community_services/parks