Around here bald eagles are a dime a dozen. Hard to believe they were on the endangered species list. The river attracts them here. We are on a raptor migration flyway and in the fall the audubon society has a raptor count at Franklin Mountain. Last year they decided to turn a dream into a reality and put GPS trackers on three golden eagles they caught. It was somewhat hard to track these birds because they often went into areas that didn't have any reception for the GPS. They know that one bird died. They believe it died after eating from a pile of dead wild pigs that the state is trying to eradicate. The pigs were killed with lead bullets. It appears the bird died from lead poisoning after feasting on dead pigs left in a pile. So actually the tracking was a success even though the bird died because it revealed a significant hazard that these birds face. There is now a greater push in this area to get the government and hunters to change the bullets they use to something nontoxic. And because hunters eat the meat they kill with these bullets they certainly would benefit too by using nontoxic bullets. They also hope to use the GPS info to map the bird's route so wind turbines won't be placed where they can endanger migrating golden eagles.

How exciting to come across a Bald Eagle, especially when they aren't common to your area! A shame you couldn't get a picture.

That's incredible!

The first time I can recall seeing a Bald Eagle in the wild was on a motorcycle ride, which turned out to be my last one in IL. It was a crisp November day and I was riding a nice curvy road paralleling the Rock River heading north. I had just navigated a tight curve when a large shadow passed me. I looked up into the sun and thought I saw the white tail feathers. I thought....nah, couldn't be....and then it turned its head towards me and there was that magnificent head. It soared over the river looking for fish, following my route for a little while. It was just the bird and me along the river. Down here, we have Reelfoot Lake in NW TN, which is a popular place for Bald Eagles to nest so I've seen quite a few more. But the day one was flying over the 5 acre pond in front of my house was memorable. I missed it flying but caught the crows chasing it. The Eagle had just caught a fish and the crows were trying to get it away from the Eagle. It had the fish in its talons, lifted up off the ground and flew a short distance to eat. I watched it dine while the crows pestered it.