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You are here: Home / Wildlife / Aerial drama as Bald Eagles drive off one of their own

Aerial drama as Bald Eagles drive off one of their own

December 8, 2014 by Tony Leave a Comment

One of two aggressive eagles tries to chase a third from a pole north of Denver, Colorado.  View more images of the encounter below. (© Tony’s Takes)
One of two aggressive eagles tries to chase a third from a pole north of Denver, Colorado. View more images of the encounter below. (© Tony’s Takes)

What began as a relatively calm encounter taking pictures of a gorgeous Bald Eagle sitting on a power pole soon turned into a rather dramatic scene as two more eagles appeared and drove off the first.

A friend let me know about a pole sitting eagle in the north Denver area suburbs.  I hot tailed it there and took many pictures of the raptor – including some fun ones when a hawk shared the power pole with the eagle for a while.

As I am taking pictures, I notice the eagle is focused on something above.  Taking my eye away from the camera and looking north I see two fast moving objects in the sky – more bald eagles!

It soon became clear that these two new arrivals did not appreciate the presence of the first, perhaps because they considered the adjacent prairie dog colonies their home hunting ground.

The aggressor eagles made numerous circles around the first, getting closer with each one.  The original eagle was clearly feeling threatened as it began to ‘puff up’ and got very anxious.

The aggressors then took a couple of dives at the pole sitting eagle.  They never did make contact but the threat was enough that the sitting eagle flew off with the other two giving chase into the distance and out of sight.

It was an absolutely extraordinary experience with bald eagles passing 20 feet above my head and something I will remember forever.  Below are the highlights of what was an action-packed 5 minutes.

The pole sitting Bald Eagle sees trouble from above
The pole sitting Bald Eagle sees trouble from above
One of the aggressors performs a flyby
One of the aggressors performs a flyby
The pole sitting eagle gets prepared
The pole sitting eagle gets prepared
One of the aggressors performs a flyby
One of the aggressors performs a flyby
Here comes one of the aggressors
Here comes one of the aggressors
1 of 4 - An aggressor Bald Eagle buzzes another eagle
1 of 4 - An aggressor Bald Eagle buzzes another eagle
2 of 4 - An aggressor Bald Eagle buzzes another eagle
2 of 4 - An aggressor Bald Eagle buzzes another eagle
3 of 4 - An aggressor Bald Eagle buzzes another eagle
3 of 4 - An aggressor Bald Eagle buzzes another eagle
4 of 4 - An aggressor Bald Eagle buzzes another eagle
4 of 4 - An aggressor Bald Eagle buzzes another eagle
One of the aggressors performs a flyby
One of the aggressors performs a flyby
One of the aggressors performs a flyby
One of the aggressors performs a flyby
1 of 8 - Bald Eagle chases off another eagle
1 of 8 - Bald Eagle chases off another eagle
2 of 8 - Bald Eagle chases off another eagle
2 of 8 - Bald Eagle chases off another eagle
3 of 8 - Bald Eagle chases off another eagle
3 of 8 - Bald Eagle chases off another eagle
4 of 8 - Bald Eagle chases off another eagle
4 of 8 - Bald Eagle chases off another eagle
5 of 8 - Bald Eagle chases off another eagle
5 of 8 - Bald Eagle chases off another eagle
6 of 8 - Bald Eagle chases off another eagle
6 of 8 - Bald Eagle chases off another eagle
7 of 8 - Bald Eagle chases off another eagle
7 of 8 - Bald Eagle chases off another eagle
8 of 8 - Bald Eagle chases off another eagle
8 of 8 - Bald Eagle chases off another eagle

Filed Under: Wildlife Tagged With: Bald Eagle

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