Hello All… Soon after a report of a Golden Eagle near Piketon, earlier today, Doreene and I headed in that direction. We arrived there at about 12:45 PM and within about 10 minutes spotted an eagle perched in a tree within a couple hundred yards of the antlered dear carcass, easily seen near to and on the W side of the road, just past the entrance gates to DOE plant. Of course, this may or may not be the same eagle that was seen/reported this morning, but after careful scope observations of this perched bird, and later in flight, we believe that this bird is a juvenile Bald Eagle. It was clearly not a juvenile Golden as the upper tail was completely dark brown. Although there were some golden-looking feathers on top of the head and also in the area of the upper neck, they were not nearly as extensive as would be expected for the golden hackles of a sub-adult or adult Golden Eagle.  The bill/head also appeared large, compared with the body size of the bird; unlike the smaller bill/head of a GOEA. While doing a 'wing thing' when perched, whitish feathers could be seen in the upper flanks/axillary area, and there appeared to be whitish feathers in the area of the under tail coverts and rear flank area. Although the wing coverts were mostly all a light and solid, chocolate-brown color, with only a few whitish feathers, and not as 'splotchy' as in most juvenile Bald Eagles, they formed a light-brown 'saddle' across the wings and back while in flight, as in a juvenile BAEA. Also, seen in flight for nearly 10 minutes, the wings were held in a straight-line profile, and never in the slight dihedral profile of a Golden Eagle. The flight of this bird was last seen disappearing over a ridge to the SE of Shyville Road. Anyone frequenting this area should keep an eye out for any eagles as the bird we saw/studied may have been a different bird than was reported this morning.

Good Birding,
Dan Sanders
Doreene Linzell

  
______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]