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Frustrated Eagle Number 1: On the afternoon of August 28, 2016, I was out on Little Bass Lake in a small fishing boat, when I saw an Osprey catch a large fish and fly over the water toward its nest near the southern end of the lake. But before it had gotten very far, an Eagle (much larger than the Osprey) also took notice of the Osprey's catch, and decided that he'd like to make of meal of it. What ensued was reminiscent of a World War II dogfight between Allied and Nazi fighter pilots. The Eagle, apparently the faster flyer, would zoom in to steal the fish, but the Osprey, apparently more maneuverable, would turn away just before contact and open up the distance between them. The Eagle would then circle back, pick up speed, and come in for another attack, which was again thwarted by a last second evasive maneuver by the Osprey. This attack and evasion occurred six or eight times before the Eagle finally gave up and flew away. What a spectacle!!!!! |
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Frustrated Eagle Number 2: One spring in the late 1990s, Bob Frey and I were trolling for Northerns in a small fishing boat on Little Bass Lake. As we trolled through Beaver Bay we noticed a Loon sitting on her nest, and across the bay an Eagle was sitting in a tree watching her. Between the two, a second Loon was sitting in the water watching the Eagle, and occasionally he would give the short low Loon call which often means that there's an Eagle in the vicinity. As we continued to fish, we trolled through the bay and around the bend into Landing Bay, where high cattails blocked our view of the nest and the Loon in the water, but we could still see the Eagle in the tree. Eventually the Eagle flew out of the tree and dove directly at the Loon sitting on the nest, which was unfortunately just out of our sight. Almost immediately he flew up a short distance, and dove again. We presumed that he was after the Loon and/or the eggs in the nest, and that the Loon on the nest was fighting him off each time he dove at her. After watching this happen several times, we pulled in our lines, and headed back toward Beaver Bay where we could see the nest, and maybe watch the actual battle. As we slowly traveled around the bend with our little 6-horse motor, the "attack and repel" sequence continued. But just as we turned the corner back into Beaver Bay and got into a position to see the nest, the Eagle gave up the fight and flew off. The Loon that was in the bay between the nest and the Eagle apparently never got involved in the fight; like us, he just watched the action from a distance. Apparently, a Loon is a tough competitor in a fight, and like the aerial battle in the above story, that was quite a spectacle. |