Are the eagles back?

[rb336]

I remember a few years ago there was an eagle on Belle Isle. I think ​I just saw one in Hamtramck. It was a huge bird, almost 3-feet long

[DetroitPlanner]

Large birds are not that unusual. They love to eat smaller birds and rats. Falcons and Osprey are found all over Michigan, as are smaller big birds like hawks.

If its not an eagle chances are you were not seeing things. If it was an eagle, you're a lucky dog!

[rb336]

I'm sure it was a bald eagle. featherless legs, brown, white splotches on wings and belly, BIG white splotches on the head. it's like a pre-teen in human terms

[Johnnny5]

I've seen a few Eagles on the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair this year. The only nest I have noticed lately was the one down by the power plant near Grosse Isle.

[Jimaz]

Last year I was surprised to see a Great Blue Heron standing in the shallows of the Clinton River waiting for fish very near downtown Utica. That couldn't be mistaken for an eagle though.

A few years earlier I spotted two enormous Turkey Vultures soaring through the forest canopy not far from there. How they do so without colliding with tree branches is beyond me.

[jcole]

There's a heron rookery on Ryan Rd between 22 and 23 Mile Rds in the Holland Ponds Nature center; you can see the huge nests from Ryan. That's probably where the one you saw came from, Jimaz.
Also, there are a lot of buzzards in the area; when I went to OU in the late 90's, there was a pair that nested on top of O'Dowd Hall. It would scare the hell out of you when you looked up and saw them looking down at you from the edge of the roof. Since then, I've seen them on Van Dyke enjoying a fine dinner of carrion a number of times.

Last year I was surprised to see a Great Blue Heron standing in the shallows of the Clinton River waiting for fish very near downtown Utica. That couldn't be mistaken for an eagle though.

A few years earlier I spotted two enormous Turkey Vultures soaring through the forest canopy not far from there. How they do so without colliding with tree branches is beyond me.

[Jimaz]

There's a heron rookery on Ryan Rd between 22 and 23 Mile Rds in the Holland Ponds Nature center; you can see the huge nests from Ryan.

Thanks! I didn't know that. I'll have to check it out.

[Whitehouse]

Don't know if this counts as a comeback...




[[Where's my coat?)

[Danny]

Yes the eagles are back and they helping us out of eating rats mice other bugs.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

I know eagles exist in the upper, and northern lower peninsula. I don't think they're in the metro area. Turkey buzzards and red and white tail hawks are in abundance though.

[rb336]

know both of those species very well. this was much bigger, had a heavier beak, different colouring, etc.

[Jimaz]

I know eagles exist in the upper, and northern lower peninsula. I don't think they're in the metro area....

I could be wrong but I vaguely recall Rock posting some photos here of an eagle somewhere in the vicinity of Detroit. An anomaly for sure.

[Johnnny5]

I know eagles exist in the upper, and northern lower peninsula. I don't think they're in the metro area. Turkey buzzards and red and white tail hawks are in abundance though.

I guess you missed my earlier post.

There was a nesting pair in Gibraltar this year, and I see at least a half dozen every year in South East Michigan [[Mostly over the St. Clair Flats area in the Late Fall). They are by no means a common sight, but there are more and more every year.


Here's a couple cool related video from Alaska.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZJKmPa42PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaBxl...feature=fvwrel