After cutting the grass and pulling weeds on Saturday, we were all out enjoying a moment of relaxation in the late evening sun. Amy and I in deckchairs, the two dogs soaking up sunbeams, Toshiro’s glaze turned upwards. I spotted a Bald Eagle circling high overhead much like one of those WWI airplanes that flew in search of targets. As the eagle started to lazily spiral downwards and loomed bigger and bigger with each circling pass, it became obvious that the hunter had spied Buffy sunbathing and was thinking about a dinner of Chinese takeout.
As soon as it made a low pass, no higher than 20-feet above over our rooftop only to land in a tall tree across the road, Amy called to the dogs while I ran downstairs, grabbed a camera and attached to a 300mm and 1.4 converter.
With both dogs safely indoors, it soon became apparent the perched eagle had no intentions of going anywhere anytime soon and we both settled into our respective waiting games, me taking pictures and it, waiting for the meals-on-wheels to reappear unguarded.
For years we’ve seen this particular bird out on patrol, but in the past Pepper, our Dalmatian, was a force to be reckoned with and the kept all raptors at bay. However, since Pepper had passed two years ago, the eagles’ low-level overhead flights had become more or less a standard routine.
While capturing a few shots of the bird, from it’s lofty perch, looking downwards with those keen eyes, the situation started to get more interesting, when a single crow started cawing and dive-bombing the eagle. Crows are fiercely territorial and will heckle and hassle any bird, big or small, that invades its’ space so I was able to get some shots of the crow buzzing the mighty hunter.
After a bit, the eagle finally grew tiresome of the harassing crow, swooped down from the limb to a make low-level pass near the trees bordering our fence line.
