Urbanized Bald Eagle
February 28, 2014Camellia Make Whirlwind Tour of Virginia Beach – Mar 2 2014
March 2, 2014KE appears to have found a great fishing hole at Swift Creek Reservoir in Chesterfield County, VA. She arrived here for the first time on Jan 24, 2014 and has explored just about all of the reservoir. For those who may be new to these maps, the blue dots are hourly readings of the location of KE. This map is for the period Feb 20 through Feb 27 at 4pm. You can see by the cluster of blue dots that she has a few favorite locations, but can tell that she has moved about the reservoir. I believe the YELLOW arrow is the location of a night time roost that KE is likely sharing with other bald eagles that are foraging at the reservoir. Most of the blue dots at that location are at night. Click on maps to enlarge.
3 Comments
Would rather see you here eating fresh fish than at a dump KE..no fighting please..there should be enough food for all to share..All those eagles in one place..what a sight to behold…Thanks Reese..
Thank you Reese for the update! I went to Sunday Park on Feb 22, but now see that I was on the wrong side of the reservoir. This past weekend I went looking on the other side, but only saw adults. I went back to Sunday Park and was treated to nice fly by from a youngster (no transmitter). There is a little story behind the fishing at the Swift Creek Resevoir. In 2010 about 10,000 carp were put into the water to eat a hydrilla plant that was causing havoc. The carp at the time were about 12 inches. I have heard they are getting to be quite large. I am not sure the eagles are eating the carp, but it seems logical. News story – http://www.nbc12.com/story/12373630/update-carp-dumped-in-swift-creek-reservoir-to-battle-hydrilla Thanks again Reese. I look forward to your updates.
Response – Readers of this blog may wish to take a look at this article about the relationship between bald eagles and carp at Farmington Bay in Utah – http://www.featheredphotography.com/blog/2014/01/23/farmington-bay-bald-eagles-and-the-2014-carp-kill/
Thank you – That was very interesting. It would appear that Chesterfield County is trying to fix a problem (Hydrilla) with a problem (Carp). Supposedly the carp placed in the reservoir were sterile so hopefully they will not become horribly destructive.