Bald Eagle floating on lake

[Randy Stout]

Good morning all:

I won't post the image here, as I was out taking family pictures when it occurred, and had the wrong lens, but I did want to get some input on this behavior.

I have a cottage on a small northern Michigan lake, and there are usually one or two bald eagles about most days. They have a running feud with the gulls. Two or three gulls were floating in the middle of the lake, and the eagle sitting a quarter mile away in his tree, launches out, flies over to them and lands on the water in the middle of them, and just sits there floating for two minutes! Needless to say, the gulls were a bit upset and blasted off. The eagle eventually took off without too much trouble and went back to his tree.

Is it common for them to float on the water? I was so amazed. I didn't know their feathers were designed for that duty.

Any input is appreciated.

Randy Stout

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Very interesting, I've never seen this behavior. Must be a gull in disguise. :) Maybe the eagle tries to cool off this way.

[Randy Stout]

Axel:

Maybe I will try to clean up the image a bit and post it, but he was way out and I had a 180 f/2.8 on, not the usual birding lens.

Randy

[John Chardine]

Here's a thought Randy. You may know that one way Bald Eagles kill waterbird prey (e.g., ducks) is to attack them from above, land on top and drown them. I wonder if your eagle was doing a test run to see if the gulls were incapacitated in any way and vulnerable to attack? Would be nice to see the image. As this is not an image critique forum we have no head angle police on duty.

[Steve Maxson]

I think that John's idea might have some merit. It's amazing what one sees when you spend time in the field and keep your eyes open. Eagles aren't designed to sit in water for long periods and I thought I'd relate a story that demonstrates this. I live on a lake in northern Minnesota next to a small bay. Every year we put out a loon nesting platform which the loons use faithfully (OK, but what does this have to do with eagles, you say?? Please bear with me a moment.) Several years ago, just as the eggs were about to hatch (I was in Canada at the time, so this story comes from my wife - also a biologist), another male loon appeared on the scene intent on taking over the territory. A big fight ensued, and the resident male was killed by a stab wound under the wing and into the chest. So, the dead loon is floating in the bay when a bald eagle happens along and spots an easy meal. The eagle swoops down and valiantly tries to grab the loon and fly off with it. Of course, the loon is too heavy for this, but the eagle keeps trying. Soon, the eagle is waterlogged and gives up on the loon, but now it can't fly. The eagle had to literally row itself to shore with its wings and then sit there looking miserable while it dried off. My daughter retrieved the loon with a kayak. Turns out the bird was banded and the records indicated that it had been banded as an adult on an adjacent lake 16 years earlier.

[Randy Stout]

Good afternoon:

I tried to add the photo, poor as it is, just to show the behavior. It wouldn't load, but Axel was kind enough to upload it for me.
Sorry for the quality, but it still shows an interesting occurance. The gulls of course split! Once the eagle took off, they started pestering him.

Randy