I took these pictures this summer on a breezy afternoon here in Port Orchard, Washington. Since we live in an area plentiful with lakes scoured out by the glaciers in the ice age, as well as the big 'scour' of Puget Sound, we have a rather diverse bird population. Sea birds and land-base birds make their homes here year round with diets that can range from small critters to salmon.
What alerted me to this eagle was its distinctive call as it circled overhead. Maybe it saw what was coming? If you click on the first picture you can see the eagle is an adult with a white head. Sometimes we see two of them working the skies, but on this day it was just one.
Because of the size of my blog, you might have to click on the photos to see the details, but trust me, there are two birds in the second picture. And, in this next one too.
That's a crow up there with the eagle. I imagine it's a one-sided battle that has gone on since time immemorial, with the crow shadowing the bald eagle to make sure it stays away from the crow's buddies and hatchlings. I don't have sound to go with these pictures, but what you hear in an encounter like this is the screech of the eagle and the loud squawking of the crow(s). From the pictures you can see the crow is very much smaller, but no less determined.
The crow finally gave up, or couldn't keep up with the eagle and came back to earth. The crows actually fly right into the eagles (I've see it) and probably try to peck at them too. If you've ever seen two eagles tangle up in the sky, it makes you wonder what would happen to the crow if the eagle decided to attack back.













