Bald Eagle - Haliaetus leucocephalus leucocephalus

Meet Jon the Bald Eagle Fledgling. Perched in an aspen tree at the edge of the garden I was concerned about the health and safety of two of my Icelandic Sheepdogs little Kria and her granddaughter Kit. Hmmm. 

Bald Eagle (Haliaetus leucocephalus leucocephalus)

Would Kit and Kria put up a fight if confronted by the progeny of "my" pair of adult bald eagles? Or are the dogs a little bit too large for Jon to consider them as breakfast? Of course I went out with them all just in case. One never knows, "does one"? Interesting to see the plumage moulting getting ready for summer. Except for size, there is no visible gender difference so this bird could be Tracy instead. To be safe, perhaps, TreJon? Sounds very American, doesn't it? Perfect for a bald eagle. (Did you know that Benjamin Franklin wanted the wild turkeyas our national bird?)

When he(?) took off I noticed the huge wing span - about seven feet according to my book. They frequently capture their own prey but also often rob fish hawks, as well as feed on decomposing fish washed up on the shore and carrion along with ravens and crows. Other meals include rabbits, squirrels, ducks, Canada geese, even mice, snakes and occasionally hens and ducks from farmers.

Egg laying in their huge bulky nests situated high up in very large and often dead trees starts in late March and early April. So this youngster's parents are probably getting ready to start their next clutch with two or sometimes three 3 inch eggs. I know their nest is a little north of me. They often come to a cove south of me to hunt for food.

Females are larger than males and, surprisingly to me anyway, the young are larger than their parents with a wing span of up to eight feet. Must be all that good eating as a nestling.

 Dozens of mini-icebergs greeted the Vinlands Icelandic Sheepdog pack this morning at first light. Even though the nights are still below freezing, the ice is breaking up and moving south for the summer - the opposite of the retired "snow birds" (aka people) who migrate to Florida, Arizona, Mexico and other warmer climes in the fall with traveling birds in order to avoid Michigan winters, and then return north with migrating birds again in the spring. That's one of the reasons I stay in Michigan in the winter - there are fewer people clogging the roads, perhaps.

Turning around after watching the flotilla of ice I noticed how the rising sun changed the color from yellow to a rosy hue for this early work of artist Jon Parlangeli which I call "Red Glove" - not it's artist's given name but one that I can remember!