A moment...

This is not a particularly good shot, technically, but I chose to post it to remind me of what I saw today.  I went out this morning to a nearby lake that's been getting a lot of wintering waterfowl recently.  I was hoping to add some ducks to my GBBC list and I did - common goldeneye, hooded and common mergansers, buffleheads, ruddy ducks, American widgeon and the ubiquitous mallards.  

But the real show was when two young Bald Eagles showed up and one of them started trying to get a duck.  He (or she) would hover above the water (not something I've actually seen eagles do) and then drop down.  Directly below were six common and two hooded mergs - and each time the eagle would drop, they'd dive.  In between attacks, they would bunch very close together, obviously trying to confuse the eagle and make it harder for him to single out one particular bird.  It was fascinating and I sat spellbound for 10 minutes, watching.  Alas, the eagle left hungry, which is a shame really.  It's hard for raptors to survive their first few years and many die simply because they can't feed themselves.  So, while it would have been a bit sad to see a duck felled, the eagle probably needed a meal. Hopefully he fared better later.  

Two other pics on Flickr starting HERE.  And Hubs and I are headed out tonight to see if we can find the Short-eared Owls, so check back later to see if we've been successful!

And Happy Birthday, Blipfoto!!!!

Over and out.
Debbi