Zimmerman, Minnesota
This is a second hand report of a first class event. The reporting and the photography were both the work of my friend Mary Carlson, a Roving Wildlife Interpreter on Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. With her camera in hand Mary spends a lot of time on the refuge's seven mile Wildlife Drive.
On the afternoon of October 12 Mary was stopped on the Wildlife Drive watching one of the resident bald eagles. The eagle would leave its perch in a tree, circle around, and settle back on its perch. She was able to get some arresting pictures of the soaring eagle.
The eagle took the now dead coot up to a high perch and began plucking out the feathers in anticipation of a good (to an eagle) meal.
Mary Carlson picture
Thanks Mary for a great story and these wonderful pictures. I suspect the eagle was checking out the water fowl buffet with all that initial circling around. Maybe it postponed its dinner because you were in view, but eventually propelled by hunger and the realization that you were not a threat it decided to go ahead.
This whole episode illustrates the surprising scenes one may find at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. But in a more general way it illustrates that often the best method to see interesting things happening in the natural world is to patiently stay in one spot so you are not perceived as a threat. Let nature come to you and unfold its dramas. It's much more likely to surprise and delight you that way.
This is a second hand report of a first class event. The reporting and the photography were both the work of my friend Mary Carlson, a Roving Wildlife Interpreter on Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. With her camera in hand Mary spends a lot of time on the refuge's seven mile Wildlife Drive.
On the afternoon of October 12 Mary was stopped on the Wildlife Drive watching one of the resident bald eagles. The eagle would leave its perch in a tree, circle around, and settle back on its perch. She was able to get some arresting pictures of the soaring eagle.
Mary Carlson Picture
Putting on the brakes.
Putting on the brakes.
 |
| Mary Carlson Picture Hovering.
The hover quickly led to a dive. The eagle plunged down toward an unsuspecting American coot swimming in the water below. At the bottom of its dive it snatched the coot off the water. The eagle's long sharp talons killed the unsuspecting coot almost instantly.
 Mary Carlson Picture Eagle with coot in its talons.  Mary Carlson picture. Eagle flying away with dead coot. |
The eagle took the now dead coot up to a high perch and began plucking out the feathers in anticipation of a good (to an eagle) meal.
The eagle picking feathers off the coot.
Thanks Mary for a great story and these wonderful pictures. I suspect the eagle was checking out the water fowl buffet with all that initial circling around. Maybe it postponed its dinner because you were in view, but eventually propelled by hunger and the realization that you were not a threat it decided to go ahead.
This whole episode illustrates the surprising scenes one may find at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. But in a more general way it illustrates that often the best method to see interesting things happening in the natural world is to patiently stay in one spot so you are not perceived as a threat. Let nature come to you and unfold its dramas. It's much more likely to surprise and delight you that way.
