Eagle alert, Ray Hubbard Lake area

[gardener]

Metro Section of the Dallas Morning News today indicates there have been at least two sightings of a bald eagle at or near Lake Ray Hubbard. The local wildlife agent noted that residents have taken "good" pictures of the bird and there is no question that it is indeed, a bald eagle that is probably overwintering here.
If you're in the vicinity of the Rockwall or Heath area around the lake, you might want to keep your eyes open and do an occasional 360° scan of the area surrounding you since the bird has apparently come quite close to homes and such...

[Stephen H]

Might be a good time to visit the Rowlett Nature Trail- out at the end, you'll normally see a bunch of water birds.

[mobilezen]

Originally Posted by Stephen H

Might be a good time to visit the Rowlett Nature Trail- out at the end, you'll normally see a bunch of water birds.

The one time I didn't bring my camera with me, I saw a Crane just planted into shallow water. It was the most beautiful thing I had seen at White Rock Lake in a LONG time. I might have to drive out to Rowlett to check out some water birds.

[Cyndi B]

Yes!!! Some friends of my parents sent them a bunch of pictures that he took! They live right on the lake in Chandler's Landing and it landed right behind their house, snatched a bird out of the lake and flew off with it. The guy got in his car to go to the movies and saw the eagle sitting in a tree enjoying his meal. He sent the pictures as a power point...I'll see if I can attach it here. He got some amazing shots! Now I'm always looking around when I'm out and about.

OK, I couldn't add the power point, but I saved all of his pictures and copied his text. Here's what he wrote and his pictures:

As many of you know I live in Chandlers Landing on the water near the marina and yacht club. On January 15, 2007 an ice storm prevented me from going to work.
I was at home with my two sons John and Will. At 4:15 pm we were getting ready to go out to a movie when a large bird flew by the window. At first, I thought it was an Osprey or some other large fishing bird. Another glance told me it was something much more special. It was a Bald Eagle! It was flying low near the jetty of the yacht club. It circled and hovered for over a minute. It then dove to the water and I thought it was going for a fish. Instead it had been waiting for a Coot (small black duck like bird) to resurface. I suppose the Coot had been trying to hide from the Eagle but lost out. The Eagle dove into the water and immediately started to fly off with the Coot in it’s talons. If you look closely at slides 7 and 8 you can see the Coot below the Eagle. We watched the Eagle fly away and were amazed at what we had just witnessed. We had just watched a Bald Eagle hunt down it’s dinner from less that 200 feet.
Now we were late to the movie so we jumped in the car to leave. I took my camera with me to show my wife Mary the pictures. She is an avid birder and I knew she would love to see them immediately. About a block from our house I spotted the Eagle sitting in a large tree eating the Coot. We pulled over and I jumped out of the car and took some photos from about 200 feet away (#9). I then worked my way closer to the Eagle and took the last tree shot from about 50-75 feet distance. The Eagle began to notice the people nearby and took his dinner and flew away.
It was truly an astonishing experience for me and my sons and one that we will not soon forget!

[Firegirl]

This is precisely why we should carry our cameras with us at all times!

[CaptainTom]

I'll bet that water bird was surprised !!!!

[gardener]

Great series of pictures! My thanks for posting them and his message...

[Wendy]

Very cool! Has anyone seen any around Houston lately?

[JPalmer]

Just as a reference point to those who may have never seen a Bald Eagle in the wild....

Look how big he is compared to...say...the 50-gallon trash barrel or the width of the at least 6-ft. long picnic table. They are freaking huge.

[zeroendless]

Look how big he is compared to...say...the 50-gallon trash barrel or the width of the at least 6-ft. long picnic table. They are freaking huge.

Huge but not that enormous, wingspan around ~6' and body size is ~2.5'-3' and i doubt the size is any different between captive and in-the-wild.

[jerrykr]

I always heard that there were a few that over-wintered along the Red River. I grew up in Gainesville, but I've never seen one out there. The Red is still pretty wild behind Texoma, so it wouldn't surprise me too much.

edited: should have Googled first!

http://www.redriverbirding.com/

since Gainesville is only about 20 miles upriver from Hagermann (as the crow flies), it's very possible that some eagles spend time along the Red.

-=- Jerry -=-
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[bee]

Those are great shots. I'd love to see him in person. Has anyone seen the african grey vulture that escaped from the Dallas zoo yesterday?? Seems as if he'd be pretty hard to miss up in the sky.

Incidentally, my wife phoned me this morning saying that traffic was stopped on Stacy road near the allen outlets. She said a large black cat came across the field and ran right across the road. From her distance she said it was NO house cat. The construction workers in the area got back inside of their vehicles as the cat neared the field they were digging in. She said she had never seen a domestic animal move like it did, and that the tail was enourmouse. I've been watching news updates to see of something materializes.

[Cyndi B]

Wow, bee, that's scary! I watched a little of the news and heard about the vulture, but not the cat....wonder if they've caught either of them.

I couldn't believe it when I saw these pictures. That bird is huge!!! I would love to see it in person!