Golden Eagle in Kanab Canyon, Utah

Geotripper has been out of California for the last week, so the next few posts include some out-of-staters. We were driving on Highway 89 just north of Kanab, Utah when we saw an interesting looking detour, Angel Canyon Road. Midway down the scenic road we somehow spotted a raptor high up on the cliff. I got out the camera to zoom in, because it didn't look at all like the expected Red-tailed Hawk.

It was the legs. The feathered legs strongly suggested a Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), and the shape of the beak confirmed it. I took what pictures I could from the great distance, and it wasn't until much later that I noticed that we had interrupted the eagle's lunch.

We got one last shot as the eagle took off to the south. It was a neat surprise after a long day on the road.

Bird of the Day: Golden Eagle near Sonora Pass

Golden Eagle above Sonora Pass in the Sierra Nevada

The fog in the valley is gloomy and depressing and conditions aren't all that amenable for bird photography, so I'm digging into the archives for a few days, remembering sunny days on the road. I'm doing the same thing over at Geotripper, where I am exploring the Sierra Nevada beyond Yosemite, which is what our fall field trips did. And there were occasionally some birds to look at.

Twice on the Eastern Sierra Nevada field studies trip we saw what most of us agreed were Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos). The profile against the sky at least looks right, though as always I am open to gentle correction. The Golden Eagle is one of the largest and fastest of the raptors, capable of 200 mph dives. According to the Cornell birding site, the birds escaped most of the worst of the DDT poisonings in the 50s and 60s because their usual prey, small mammals, were less likely to consume the pesticide, unlike fish and birds. Their populations have been relatively stable, though they continue to die mostly at the hands of humans (they are protected by federal law).

Golden Eagle above Crowley Lake in the eastern Sierra Nevada