On a drive westward from East Hampton, my sister and I decided to try to get in a bit of birding before the rains started.
As we emerged from the car at Mill Pond in Watermill, NY at around 10:45 a large raptor immediately captured my attention: An adult Bald Eagle. We watched it as it hovered above the pond, fly up and return. A few minutes later I saw a Ruddy Duck alone in the middle of the pond. The eagle came over and the duck dove. Over the next several minutes we watched as the eagle followed the duck underwater. Occasionally there would be a splash as the RUDU came up for a breath of air. After about 5 minutes, the eagle made its final pounce and came up with the ruddy in its talons. We watched as the eagle flew off with the duck. As we packed up to go, an immature Bald Eagle flew over the pond; however it either left or went off to a section of the pond not visible from our location. Two Bald Eagles and a breathtaking display of life and death in nature. Karen Rubinstein Springs, East Hampton and Manhattan, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
