Image borrowed from Bird of Prey site
One of the most pleasant surprises I had in moving to South
Carolina was seeing bald eagles. In my
mind I associated these birds of prey with Alaska and Montana, but SC has a
healthy Bald Eagle population. I have a
favorite path along the river and when I stop on the crab dock I can see an
Eagles nest. It is high in a pine tree,
overlooking the water and the woods. I
have watched an eagle soaring over the water to then land in the tree. To see a bald eagle in the sky is one of
life’s great moments.
Bald Eagles
eat fish that they pull from the marshes and rivers as well as fish stolen from
ospreys. They also eat the dead fish
and other carrion that can be found around these waters. Eagles mate for life and use the same nest
each year if they can. In South Carolina
they lay eggs generally in December and January, and in the summer months they
migrate north. Many banded eagles from
South Carolina seem to spend their summers in the Chesapeake Bay area.
The ACE
basin area has the largest population of eagles in the state, but they are
found all over. I have seen them soaring
over suburban neighborhoods and in the marshes behind a friend’s home in Moncks
Corner.
One way to
identify the Bald Eagle, besides the white head of mature birds, is in the way they
fly. Balds are large soaring birds, and
they glide and soar in more of a flat profile than the “V” profile of the
turkey vultures.
Stay tuned
for information on other birds and flowers you can find here in the low
country!
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