Bald Eagle At The Sudbury River

 I was walking home from school one day when I spotted a great blue heron perched on a log. It was standing on one foot with it's head tucked into it's neck. It looked cold. I was walking over wickford bridge. I whipped out my phone and- oh. it was dead. I speedwalked home to gather binoculars, charge my phone, and headed back to the river. I thought I might get a closer photo of the heron by going to Simpson Park. The heron was gone. It wasn't in any of the nearby wetland, that I could see either. I stood there for a second. The river had plenty of Mallard Ducks in it. It was their breeding season, so the males kept doing this little move where they perk their head upright, and whistle. Some males did this in synchronicity. 

I then saw a raptor in the distance, circling above what I think would be Central St. I quickly realized it was flying my way and pulled out my phone. It descended to about the height of the tall pine tree canopies above my head. I took a photo of it. It was extremely high up, and I'm only using a smartphone camera, so when i crop the image enough to be able to see the eagle, the eagle gets blurry. This is a good happy medium...

I know it was an eagle, and not a hawk because it the shape of it's wings. My eyes could see the eagle a lot more detailed than the camera could, and I could make out the individual primary feathers on the tips of the wings. I was looking at a juvenile Bald Eagle. I got far better images last February, when i used to feed the birds on the river regularly. I saw multiple at the same time on some occasions. Here is my best bald eagle photo from 2021:

Bald Eagles mostly eat fish, occasionally eating carrion and rodents. In most encounters between a songbird and Bald Eagle, the songbird wins. At range pond, last year, I watched a tiny dark eyed junco chasing an adult Bald Eagle. It looks backwards. 

Two fishing raptors actually co-exist is the Sudbury River: The Osprey and The Bald Eagle. They must have some small difference in diet. Ospreys are more specialized for eating fish. They dive underwater to catch them. They also carry their fish head-first to reduce drag in the air. Osprey almost never eat terrestrial organisms. 

I think they evolved the black stripe on their face to make it difficult for Bald Eagles to target their eyes in fights. Eagles frequently steal food and fight Ospreys.

The Eagle continued flapping and went out of sight, downstream. The Eagle pair are probably building or preparing a nest in Saxonville.