Golden Eagle

We heard about snowy owls in the area (active during daytime) so we went for a drive.
No snowy owls, but what do we have here?




A golden eagle.
Location near the Missouri river.
He seemed kinda scraggly; made me think he was a juvenile.

Didn't get any clear photos.
We returned to the area next day and didn't see anything.

cornell
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npwrc

Bald Eagle Juvenile

Along the Missouri again, same area as the previous mature bald eagle photo.

The regal head:

A Little Excitement Saturday

So we had a little excitement Saturday...





On a trail by the Missouri.

Here's a favorite inflight photo:


Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
npwrc
The bald eagle is uncommon in North Dakota and is usually seen along the Missouri River in late fall/early winter and in the spring during migration to its northern breeding grounds.
Bald eagles do not acquire their white-colored head and tail until about 4 years of age.
The bald eagle feeds primarily on fish.

Feb 2010 NDOutdoors magazine:
listed here
Nesting in Numbers - Active Bald Eagle Nests Up in ND - Feb 2010 - (330Kb PDF)
pdf direct link
It wasn’t until the mid-2000s that the number of nesting eagles climbed in North Dakota.
To date, North Dakota Game and Fish Department biologists have logged 103 individual nest sites, some of which are no longer in use because the trees have fallen or the eagles abandoned the sites.
In 2009, Game and Fish biologists estimated that 66 nests were occupied by bald eagles, though not all eagle nest sites were visited and verified. Bald eagle nests have now been reported in 29 of 53 North Dakota counties.

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cornell
Cornell has some good juvenile photos alongside the golden eagle for comparison.
I'd love to get photos of the golden eagle too.

Zoo5 - Raptors

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

cornell
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Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)

cornell
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Red-Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
I've posted Red-Tailed Hawk pics before, but not a trio:
"OK everybody, say cheese."


cornell
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Hawks, Eagles, and Falcons of North Dakota

Dakota Zoo Facebook
Bald Eagle Pic
"The Dakota Zoo serves as a rehabilitation center for injured and orphaned raptors. These birds are on loan to us from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service."