When a Bald Eagle Flies Past Your Window Carrying Something

Today’s Photo of the Day is courtesy of a Bald Eagle that flew past our window yesterday carrying … something. At first – when the photo was still on my camera – we thought it might be a duck. I say this because we could see what looked like a duck-bill on the head.

But when I got the photos uploaded to my computer, we wondered if it might be a small swan because of the long neck. I don’t know, though. It’s definitely a bird because you can see feathers on it. And it looks like the leg is reddish in color. Still, I don’t know that it’s a swan. Maybe a vulture?

Either way, it’s Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom every day here on Bluff Road. And because we live on a hill where the tops of the trees are basically right outside our window, we can usually get a good look at what’s out there. And if I’m lucky, a good photo or two.

Like so many of us who live on the Old Mission Peninsula, whether year-round or during the warmer seasons, we see Bald Eagles quite often – usually at least a few times a week, either here at the house or elsewhere on the Peninsula.

And yet, every time one goes by our window, we all shout excitedly – “Eagle! Headed north! Coming back around!” – and rush to the window to see it. I keep my camera handy on my desk for just those moments. If they’re flying, I usually end up with a blurry picture of feathers or the end of a tail whooshing by. I just lucked out with this one and got a fairly decent photo.

However, while we see a lot of eagles, it’s not often that we see one flying by with something dangling from its powerful talons. In this case, it flew to a nearby tree where it landed on a branch, pecked at the creature momentarily, and then decided maybe it was too big to deal with up there. Then it flew off to the south. Any other Bluff Roaders see it carrying its dinner?

These sightings always remind me of one day long ago when Dad and I were sitting at our big dining room table at our house in Old Mission. The window looked out over East Bay, and we watched as an Eagle soared around the beach out front.

All of a sudden, the giant bird dove towards the bay and grabbed a big fish out of the water right in front of us. Dad and I both exclaimed wildly and watched as the bird flew off clutching the prey firmly in its talons.

Of course, this was in the last century when there were no cell phones with cameras, but thankfully, this memory is solidly entrenched in my brain. Still gives me chills to think about it.

Here’s a closer look at yesterday’s bird with prey. If you click on the photo, you can bring it up a little closer.

What say you, gentle readers? Duck? Swan? Something else?