[Rhodes22-list] Bald Eagle/Canada Geese Standoff

[ROGER PIHLAJA]

Hi All,

Spring must be coming because the river in front of my house finally thawed and started flowing again a couple of days ago.  Almost as soon as there was flowing water, a flock of Canada geese moved onto the sand bar about 80 yards from my beach.  If you’ve spent any time around Canada geese, you know how territorial they can be.  Today, an immature bald eagle landed on the sand bar about 50 feet away from the geese.  The geese weren’t having any of that.  They immediately surrounded the eagle on 3 sides.  With its back up against the river, the eagle was in real trouble.  The birds kept threatening each other for several minutes.  But, it was a standoff and no one was giving ground.  Then, another immature bald eagle landed next to the first eagle.  Amazingly, the geese weren’t intimidated!  They kept both eagles surrounded and all the birds were making threat displays and making lots of noise for several more minutes.  Then, a third immature bald eagle landed next to the other two!  Now, the Canada geese backed off.  They executed an amazingly orderly retreat, keeping their eyes on the eagles the whole time.  When the whole flock was in the water, they swam away, leaving the eagles in possession of the sand bar.  The whole show probably lasted 15 minutes.  I’ve never seen bald eagles work together like that.  I thought they were solitary hunters.  It was pretty cool!  It was also exciting to see 3 immature bald eagles near my house.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium

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