Maybe the eagle wasn’t social distancing properly or perhaps they just didn’t want any neighbors, but a bunch of red-winged blackbirds let this eagle know its presence wasn’t welcome.
I visited a lake in northern Colorado where one of my favorite pairs of bald eagles hangs out. As the sun rose, the male was hanging out in one of their favorite trees. I snapped some pics of him but then the neighboring red-winged blackbirds started dive-bombing him.
He waived the white flag and flew off, doing a quick tour of the lake, and then relocating to a tree a ways away from the first. This was fine by me as the new perch gave me a nice, clear view.
Well, unfortunately for the eagle, it wasn’t long until the blackbirds showed up again and began hassling him. He demonstrated a lot of patience, dealing with their incessant cackling at him. When that didn’t work, the blackbirds became more aggressive, taking turns dive-bombing at him and at times actually pecking him.
That was enough for the eagle and he headed off to the other side of the lake for quieter environs with, hopefully, friendlier neighbors.
