Eagles Attacking Gull, Etc. at the Wastewater

No unusual species at the Wastewater this morning (although eBird questioned the 200 Horned Larks).  It was an ideal day for viewing the larks because the only open ground was the roads and they were foraging for grit as well as food; 200 is a serious undercount!

I had been hoping for the shrike on the south side, but witnessed an interesting Eagle-Gull encounter instead.  I wish one of our photographers had been there with a good camera, but the action came close enough to my car a few times for some acceptable shots.

I was heading south on Swanson not quite to the model airfield as an adult Bald Eagle tail-chased a Herring Gull.  At one point the eagle raked the gull's back pulling out a hunk of feathers and skin and leaving the upper rump area pinkish-red.

The eagle then drove the gull to the snow just southwest of the corner and must have thought he had it, but the gull flew off as the eagle stayed on the snow for several seconds before continuing the chase.

After a few minutes, that eagle landed northwest of the corner and a second adult eagle flew over from a tree south of Laketon (visible in photo below) and took up the chase of the gull for a couple more minutes.

Then that eagle flew back to the treetop and a third Bald Eagle (not quite full adult yet; lotsa brown feathers in its white tail) flew in from northwest and continued chasing the gull.  It seemed like a coordinated attack because the gull had to keep flying as the eagles rested.

The gull headed southwest when the third eagle stopped chasing and landed north of the model airport.  But then the first eagle flew from the field and took off after the gull (which by then was quite far away) followed seconds later by the second adult from the top of the tree, and the whole show disappeared far off to the southwest.  When I looked back for the younger eagle, it was gone, but may also have re-joined the chase.

Who needs a shrike after all that?

The Glaucous Gulls were among Herring Gulls in the middle aeration lagoon.  The Lapland Longspur was a male along White east of Swanson apparently beginning to molt (?) with darkish breast feathers, not just a dark collar.  Snow Buntings were occasional in a few of the lark flocks.

- Ric

Muskegon Wastewater System, Muskegon, US-MI
Mar 8, 2014 9:15 AM - 11:15 AM
Protocol: Traveling
6.0 mile(s)
Comments: Driving roads at Muskegon Wastewater
15 species (+3 other taxa)

Gadwall (Anas strepera)  2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  4
Greater/Lesser Scaup (Aythya marila/affinis)  6
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  6
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  3 
Merganser species (Mergus merganser/serrator)  2
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  8 
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)  1
Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus)  1    
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)  100    
Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus)  2    
gull sp. (Larinae sp.)  X
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  25
Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris)  200   
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  6
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  50
Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus)  1    
Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis)  30

This report was generated automatically by eBird.