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Bald Eaglet
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
44.5359, -68.2717
Field Notes
Description:
Bald eagle chicks are brown the first year... their feathers and their eyes. Each year their white head and tail feathers fill in more until they are fully mature at 5.
For such a noble bird they have a very whining voice. Sometimes sounding more like a chicken than a big fierce bird, or like a gate hinge that needs oiling... check out the calls on the Cornell Lab link.
Habitat:
Nest on Island overlooking a protected bay with harbor seal pupping ledge and tern nests within striking distance. The adults decimate the tern colony every summer to feed their chick and they seem to relish the pup afterbirth.
Notes:
When I took this photo, my dog and I were drifting under the chick in the canoe, I had my big honking 500mm lens on and cropped the heck out of this so I wasn't quite as close as it looks. Selkie was pacing back and forth in the boat and I had to time the photos for when she wasn't moving so I am pretty happy with the results.
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