Date: 3/9/26 2:37 pm From: Wendy VanDeWalle <wtvandewalle...> Subject: [ia-bird] Golden Eagle Benton Co
Hi all!
It’s been fun to watch the Snow Geese and the Greater White-fronted Geese
streaming north. Yesterday morning a large group of Snow Geese flew right
over our house! (Buchanan Co)
The sound of their calls definitely means spring to me!
Today, this early afternoon I was at Winegar Park in Benton County to see
if I could catch more geese flying up the Cedar. I watched a somewhat
distant brown eagle fly west and figured it was a first year Bald Eagle,
because I thought I could see some white speckling on the wings closer to
the armpits. After a couple minutes it came back being chased by an adult
Bald Eagle! They tussled in the air a few times and I thought it was odd
that an adult would chase a young one like that. I figured I needed to look
at it more closely. At one point they actually locked talons and spun
several times in the air! Right after that, the brown one was right
overhead and I could see a little bit of white at the base of the tail. I
could also see a bit of a white line on the wings between the coverts and
the flight feathers. And then as it was flying off to the side I could see
the golden head shining in the sun. The Bald Eagle stopped chasing after
the talon lock. (There is a nest maybe a mile up river as the crow flies).
I figured this was probably a second year Golden.
I was fortunate enough to get a second closer look at this bird and see
some pretty cool Eagle behavior!
The FOYs (First of the Year birds) are streaming in! My first Turkey
Vulture was this morning. Have fun!
Wendy VanDeWalle
Buchanan Co
PS: If you use eBird, remember that scientists and conservationists use
this data, so be sure to add in behavior and breeding status. If it’s
singing just click that “S”. :-) My Bald Eagle got a “T” for territorial
defense!
