Swans don't take any guff from eagles

MD

MD

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Sorry, no photo, it was too far away.

I was in a field in Delta today and there was zero duck action. Maybe the 40 eagles surrounding the field had something to do with it.

There were up to 15 swans at one point too.

I saw an eagle dive-bomb a flying swan and knock it to the ground. The swan couldn't take flight again, it seemed to have hurt its wing. It was dragging it a bit. The eagle tried to attack it on the ground but the swan managed put up both wings and threatened the eagle back.

More eagles flew in , probably hoping to take part in the kill. Then a flight of 5 or 6 swans dropped in and surrounded the hurt swan and then they all had a face-off.

It was like watching a gang fight.

Nothing happened for a while, then the swans marched their hurt buddy out of the field, across a ditch and into the next field.

When the hurt one felt better, they all flew away.
 
Eagle time in that neck of the woods.Son was out there recently, photographing them, he says they get 35000 of them, looking for salmon.

Grizz
 
Awesome , I think it would have been a different story if it was a Golden , Swan wouldn’t have likely survived the first hit
 
Its crazy watching the wildlife out in delta. I work right near the port in Tsawwassen. We had multiple owls in the building. Eagles and hawks will hangout on the roof. I was 20' away from an old timer eagle when i was up on the roof the other day. The snow geese migrating have been un believable.

We've found half eaten rabbits scattered around site.

Apparently eagles arent flying south and staying near the vancouver landfill on the north side of hwy 99. Keeps them warm and is a source of food. Only problem is they are finding dead eagles with effed up diseases. People dont dispose of anything properly...

Sounds like a cool nature show you got to witness. Thanks for sharing.
 
Pretty cool.
Like the busty bawled bear that took on a cow.
Dang bruin took a beet'in.
There is a video out there somewhere.

Bully the bullies me thinks.
 
MechanicalSparky25 said:
Its crazy watching the wildlife out in delta. I work right near the port in Tsawwassen. We had multiple owls in the building. Eagles and hawks will hangout on the roof. I was 20' away from an old timer eagle when i was up on the roof the other day. The snow geese migrating have been un believable.

We've found half eaten rabbits scattered around site.

Apparently eagles arent flying south and staying near the vancouver landfill on the north side of hwy 99. Keeps them warm and is a source of food. Only problem is they are finding dead eagles with effed up diseases. People dont dispose of anything properly...

Sounds like a cool nature show you got to witness. Thanks for sharing.
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Yup, Eagles will only migrate if their food source runs out, landfills will usually have eagles year round. Got to watch an eagle repeatedly dive bomb a group of 3 otters attempting to drag and eat fish on the ice a few weeks ago. As cheesy as it may sound, I find such things the true rewards for all the time we spend outdoors. Thanks for sharing
 
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A few years back in early November before the rifle season for deer we saw a huge 12 point swimming our small cottage lake. There were two swans on the lake and they made a bee line for that buck and put the run on it. When it got to shore it lay down for a good half hour.
 
I was lucky enough to witness two mid-air Eagle strikes on mallards when I was a kid. Quite a ball of loose feathers when they hit, one duck appeared to be dead on impact but the other had his neck stretched out and was looking around when they flew right over me...often thought about and felt sorry for that duck over the years.
 
There is an eagle's nest directly across the lake from us, a little under a mile away. It is a mud flat area and a staging area during migration. Trumpeters drop in spring and fall plus many ducks. In the evening when all the ducks are getting settled in for the night the last move one of the eagles makes is to do low level fly by on all the ducks in the bay. They go ballistic and the eagle goes to its nest and kicks back. Never takes one, just agitates them. Not sure what the play is? One day the pair was working something swimming across the lake (beaver). They worked in tandem making small circles and smacking this beaver on the head repeatedly as it worked its way along until it was close to my shore. The eagles peeled off and the beaver was breathing so heavily that I could hear it from where I was standing. I have seen eagles smoke a Canada and knock it to the ground, goose got up and was supremely choked. The osprey fishes in the bay and the eagles will force it to give up its fish, but only when there are a pair of eagles, if only one they the air show is full on. My favourite part is when the osprey gives up and drops the fish one of the eagles will flip over on its back and catch the fish in midair. There is a golden eagle nest across the lake somewhere?? and they sit in sentinel trees and scream back and forth with the bald eagles. Not sure who wins that argument.
 
383SB said:
Yup, Eagles will only migrate if their food source runs out, landfills will usually have eagles year round. Got to watch an eagle repeatedly dive bomb a group of 3 otters attempting to drag and eat fish on the ice a few weeks ago. As cheesy as it may sound, I find such things the true rewards for all the time we spend outdoors. Thanks for sharing
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America's mighty emblem is actually a scavenger. :)

Grizz
 
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