1st Bald Eagle

[RED333]

I know, pics or it did not happen, all I had was my flip phone. So no pics.

I was fishing yesterday afternoon at Vivrett boat ramp, no fishing luck. However I did watch something I had not seen in my 60 years. I was talking to a couple about the state of things. From behind me I heard a hawk squeal and squall, I look around and see a large black bird with a white head and tail chasing the smaller hawk.  As the pair got closer I was able to see the big bird better. I have seen my first Bald Eagle live! The Eagle was after the smaller hawk for a good 90 seconds (a guess). The hawk could turn faster but the eagle was faster in a straight line. after a bit the hawk dropped what I am guessing was a fish into the lake. The eagle broke off the chase and went and picked up the fish and the hawk went to chasing the eagle. They went off in a direct line away from me and I lost them in the trees. A Bald Eagle in Mt Juliet TN, I guess we are doing things right with the environment and all. I had a great afternoon of not catching fish.

I know about Bald Eagles out at Land Between the Lakes. To see one live here is something I had not seen in my 30 years of living in Mt Juliet or the 40 years of living in middle TN. Or my whole life.

Edited September 9, 2019 by RED333
Because I can

[chances R]

Many in E TN for years.  

[gary_boom]

A couple of years ago I had one swoop down like he was checking out my 110 lb Golden Retriever. They cast a big shadow.

[FrankD]

My first reaction when I saw this post in the hunting/fishing section was that someone is about to get a visit from TWRA.

[E4 No More]

The first Bald Eagle that I saw was a good 25 years ago in Missouri. I was driving to the Sam's Club and one flew directly over my car by about 50 feet. That was cool!

[gregintenn]

Seeing that this is a hunting forum, you scared me until I read the post.

I see them regularly at Cordell Hull and Barren River Reservoir. They are thick at Land Between the Lakes and at Reelfoot. I assumed they were also common down your way. I guess not. They are some big, neat birds to watch, aren’t they?

[MacGyver]

We really enjoyed watching them at Reelfoot earlier this year.

[Erik88]

There is a huge nest on Norris Lake that is re-used by a set of bald eagles every year. I've been lucky enough to study it from a boat with binoculars. Very neat experience.  

[TomInMN]

My grandpa (Mom's side) came down from the farm to live with my folks for the winters toward the end of his life.

They had this on quite a bit, especially during the hatch. We watched it together quite a lot when I'd stop in to visit and takes about it frequently.

https://explore.org/livecams/bald-eagles/decorah-eagles-north-nest

[quedz]

6 minutes ago, Erik88 said:

There is a huge nest on Norris Lake that is re-used by a set of bald eagles every year.

It's hard to believe those nests can weigh north of two tons. I'd like to see one up close.

[peejman]

If they were fighting over a fish, it's likely that was a Osprey rather than a hawk. 

My parents live on the lake and have a resident pair that we see/hear pretty routinely.  Mom loves watching the eagle cams. 

[10-Ring]

I got this picture from my backyard in Lebanon back in the spring.  There were two juvenile balls eagles, they hung around for about a week, haven't seen them since.  I've heard of several in the 109 bridge area, which isn't but about 3-4 miles from my house straight line.

 

http://imgur.com/gallery/b0pkkSs

 

 

[bduncan1231]

We had 2 up here behind Lakeview Elem. back in the spring.  They stayed for a few days and haven’t seen them since

[RED333]

7 hours ago, gregintenn said:

They are some big, neat birds to watch, aren’t they?

The bird was so cool to watch. The way it took that fish, something to see.

[Dirtshooter]

On 9/9/2019 at 11:19 AM, FrankD said:

My first reaction when I saw this post in the hunting/fishing section was that someone is about to get a visit from TWRA.

Yea, I clicked on it in hopes of finding a new recipe. I'm sorry but that's funny right there. BTW there are a bunch here on Dale Hollow, watched 1 back in the spring, but couldn't get a decent pic with my phone. I saw a show years back, it said look for the ball. Look in the tree's near rivers and lakes and look for the white baseball sized head of an adult. First one I spotted here on Dale, we were tooling around on the toon and sure enough I spotted the ball and it had a yearling chick with it which didn't have the white head.

[-boatman-]

There is getting to be so many on LBL that if you don't see any when out on a boat you're just not looking. I regularly see a half dozen without really trying. I have several pictures on my phone and you can tell it's a eagle but can't zoom in enough to get a really good picture. I really enjoy watching them.

[gregintenn]

On 9/15/2019 at 2:18 PM, Dirtshooter said:

Yea, I clicked on it in hopes of finding a new recipe. I'm sorry but that's funny right there. BTW there are a bunch here on Dale Hollow, watched 1 back in the spring, but couldn't get a decent pic with my phone. I saw a show years back, it said look for the ball. Look in the tree's near rivers and lakes and look for the white baseball sized head of an adult. First one I spotted here on Dale, we were tooling around on the toon and sure enough I spotted the ball and it had a yearling chick with it which didn't have the white head.

Do they really taste like chicken?

[1967GT]

I'm in west Tn. I see eagles all the the time while fishing the Tn river. Also see them a lot at my local lake.