Very definatly an immature bald eagle. Strangly enough the imm's look bigger than some of the mature ones. Here on the Miss. river w. ILL. we have a lot of juviniles as well as adults.{{!gwi}}here is an adult feeding.

That is an immature Bald eagle.

Woo hoo!

Nice little sighting!

Thanks so much, elly and jmc, for taking the time to look at my photos....
I do feel blessed because the past week I've been reading up on eagles wintering on the (mid)Hudson River and trying to figure out where I might go to "safely" watch them without disturbing them....and to see one literally in my "backyard", wow! He/she was quite large - couldn't be missed sitting high up in the tree.

Generally, the females are larger than the males, so maybe jmc is seeing boy adults?

Shanachiel, it's the "Dorothy" rule of birding (from the Wizard of Oz : )

>>Shanachiel, it's the "Dorothy" rule of birding (from the >>>Wizard of Oz : )

Ok, what does that mean exactly? LOL

No place like home? If only a Snowy Owl and saw whet would show up and a barn owl take up residence in my barn, I'd be quite content!

What's interesting is we are about 20 miles east of the Hudson River but there are extensive wetlands in the area...I saw a bald eagle flying east away from the river one morning several years ago and never forgot that sight- the wingspan - wow!

Sometimes Golden Eagles winter just north of me at a glacier pond but I don't think there have been any sightings yet this season. I tried on numerous occasions to try to see them last winter.

Guess I am really hooked now! I'm definitely going to be spending more time at that swamp.....

If you back out of the eagle photo page, you'll enter my main bird gallery from an afternoon at the Hudson Valley Raptor Center. Several of their resident rehabbed birds (who are used to being "on display" for educational purposes) are presented for a photo op. To be able to get fairly close and look in to their eyes.....

Here is a link that might be useful: HUDSON VALLEY RAPTOR CENTER

Holy Cow! Can you tell I am excited? I drove to the Swamp earlier today to see if I could spot the Juv eagle and saw a bird with a very distinctive BIG white head either being driven off or attacking another fairly large bird midway across the lake - I followed it flying away where it swooped low and then went to the top of a tree and even though it was so far away (1/2 way across the lake) I did photograph and when I edited the file discovered not one, but two bald eagles in the tree!
The photo is very poor quality but the id is not in doubt this time .
http://www.quarterpole.com/gallery/album64/BaldEages_010107
Wow, I guess I am now officially hooked on birdwatching.

I'll head back later - don't think there is any danger in harrassing the eagles since they are so far across the lake. Will find a dry spot to sit and watch for a bit. I'm surprised to find them so far (20 miles) from the Hudson River.

I also saw a flock of bluebirds but they were moving too fast to get any pictures.....

Here is a link that might be useful: Sighting of Adult Bald Eagles in NY

That's a very big dive into the deep end of bird watching! People usually get started with chickadees eating suet in their back yards!

Yes: The Dorothy Rule of Bird Watching has to do with Dorothy's little soliloquy at the end of the movie, about looking for your heart's desire over the rainbow, yada yada yada, when all you really need is in your own back yard. Or something like that. I'm not saying not to range, but so many people are lucky enough to find wonderful things in their back yards, I coined the phrase.

Anyway, I will check out your pictures of the HVRC. Good luck winter birding!

Pretty neat, I sure would have a hard time identifying an immature bald eagle.

A couple of weeks I was driving around the Washington, D.C. area with my girl friend and I spotted a number of hawks perched on trees and light posts. I thought I was doing pretty good until my girl friend uttered - wow that's a big bird, its bigger than a hawk. I asked her what it looked like and she said - big with a white head. I responded are you sure it wasn't a seagull. Her reply: I know what a seagull looks like. Evidently she saw a bald eagle and I missed it. In normal winters (real warm this year) there are about 30 bald eagles that winter around the Potomac River in or near Washington.

Richard

Immature raptors do appear larger than adults and also females are one third larger than males. Also it may take any where from five to seven years for the bald eagle to have a full white head and tail.