Then today (7 March 2019), while I was out along the coastal bluffs with my head down checking on some plants, I heard a gull calling in the distance. It took a second or two, but then I registered that the gull's call sounded a bit distressed. So I looked in that direction, and there was an adult Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)!
I had a camera with a larger lens with me, but it was packed away. So I scrambled to get it out of the camera case. The light wasn't great, but I managed a few interesting shots for the record. I've seen eagles in the harbor, but I think this is the first time I've seen one on the outer coast of Bodega Head:
Although eagles are uncommon in Bodega Bay, I've heard that they've been observed regularly near the mouth of the Russian River. Perhaps this individual wandered down from there?
P.S. If you'd like to see pictures of an eagle in Bodega Harbor, check out the post called "Coming in for a landing" on 13 January 2017.
7 comments:
At the end of January, we saw a pair of bald eagles perched on a eucalyptus tree on the north end of Hog Island in Tomales Bay. Usually, there are lot's of cormorants on the island, but that day they were all gone. Not sure whether the eagles had something to do with that.
Hi, Doerte!
I posted a few photos of a pair of eagles on Hog Island back in 2012:
https://bodegahead.blogspot.com/2012/11/perched-up-high.html
I wouldn't be surprised if the eagles influenced the cormorants, but perhaps the folks at Audubon Canyon Ranch know more about that?
:) Jackie
We saw a baldie eating a fish on the Laguna in Sebastopol yesterday.
Nice photos, Jackie!
There's a pair of eagles living in the Laguna de Santa Rosa just north of Occidental Road Sebastopol, across from the Laguna Learning Center. Last Friday while paddling on the floodwaters there I got photos of one individual with the Laguna Foundation buildings in the background:
https://connectednaturalist.blogspot.com/
Dan
Jackie,
Love your photos. I saw an adult bald eagle yesterday briefly land in Salmon Creek then taking off flying south. I was able to see it in my spotting scope from my living room.
BTW, what is the camera & lens you use to get those great photos?
Bill
Joan Bacci's been photographing the pair of BAEA at Jenner since they first appeared there - I think in 2011. https://www.facebook.com/joan.bacci.7?ref=br_rs
She's also posted some wonderful video on youtube. The osprey who nest upriver near Duncans Mills and come down to the mouth to fish on the incoming tide now have to run a gauntlet to avoid a mugging and get their catch back to the nest. There's now a resident pair on the Bolinas Lagoon too - saw one take a marbled godwit from a peregrine two years ago. They seem to be making a comeback here like the peregrines have.
Great photos of the Bald Eagle. I've seen them occasionally in March by housing.
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