Saturday, December 17, 2011

The Hillmomba Welcome Wagon Greets A Transient

Here's the photo of the bald eagle we saw yesterday in town. The pic is not much better than my uncorrected eyesight. But you have to consider that it was taken by The Pony on his cell phone out the window of T-Hoe. I tried zooming in, to better see the baldness of the eagle. Indeed, he does appear to be turning to look at his photographer.

Too bad the #1 son wasn't along with his fancy schmancy Canon.




I suppose you can click on it and try to zoom in. I did it in my pictures manager, or whatever that dealybobber is called where you go to save a photo in Pictures. But I didn't save the blurry zoom.

Maybe you can understand why I might have mistaken Mr. B. Eagle for a squirrel's nest. He was so BIG. And thick. He didn't look birdy. The saying, "You don't eat enough to keep a bird alive," would apply to many more people if Mr. B. Eagle was used as the standard.

He was in a little neighborhood. There's a river about a half mile away as the crow flies. I'm sure it's closer as Mr. B. Eagle flies. On the road near his tree, there was a dead squirrel laid out like a cartoon steam roller had flattened him. Perhaps that was the main attraction that drew our feathered friend to sit a spell inside city limits. Guess who's coming to dinner, indeed. It's Mr. B. Eagle.

I am terribly ignorant of eagles. My internet research (and NOT on wikipedia) informed me that they do eat dead stuff. Did you know that a full-grown bald eagle might span 36 inches from beak to tail? Or that the wingspan could be 7 feet? My only other sighting of a bald eagle was in Alaska, on a ferry trip along the Inside Passage. I hear they hang out along the Mississippi as well. Kids may have a sweet tooth, but bald eagles have a fish tooth. It's their preferred food.

Welcome, Mr. B. Eagle, to Hillmomba!

4 comments:

Chickadee said...

Yah, I concur with the Bald Eagle ID by shape. When I was up in Wisconsin a few years ago, I saw a pair of Bald Eagles going hog wild on a deer carcass on the side of the road. They are opportunists.

There's a lock and dam near my house when they hang out to fish, especially the stunned ones that fall out of the dam.

Keep your eyes peeled, you may see more this winter!

Hillbilly Mom said...

Chick,
I'll be on the lookout! I saw a big ol' red-tailed hawk yesterday, over my barn field.

knancy said...

Tell your chickies to watch out!

Hillbilly Mom said...

knancy,
You should see them scramble for the woods when a big birdy shadow falls across the yard. We have had a few disappear, but are not sure if a feathered or furry predator got them. Probably the former, because no remains have been found.