January 22, 2022

C-c-c-cold!  It was minus 22 degrees as I pulled into the eagle feeding site.  There were about 30 brave and hardy souls who had come out and about the same number of eagles in the surrounding trees.

I distributed a bucket of medium to large size chickens.  It didn't take long - about 5 minutes -  for the eagles to come down.  There wasn't much of a flying display but considerable action on the ground. 

By eleven the temperature was up to minus 13, the crowd had swelled to 50+ and there were 60 birds (estimate) in the surrounding trees.   This time the feeding consisted of a half bucket of chicks and a bucket of large chickens.  The delay in the action wasn't long - 10 to 15 minutes.  The wait was worth it as there was a fantastic aerial display with 25 - 30 birds circling at a time.  This was followed by some good on ground action.

I was asked why the eagles fail to take the chicken on the wing so often.  My explanation is that the diving action is commonly done over water in catching fish.  That's a far cry from doing the same trick over frozen ground.  Anybody else have some thoughts?

​All in all a good day and a very good turnout.