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cars and <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org= /TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"><html xmlns=3D"http://www.w3.org/1999/xht= ml"><head> <meta content=3D"text/html; charset=3DUTF-8" http-equiv=3D"Content-Type= "/> =20 <style type=3D"text/css"><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-fa= mily: Helvetica; } @font-face {font-family: "Cambria Math"; } @font-face {font-family: Calibri; } @font-face {font-family: Tahoma; } /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:= 0cm; margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: "Times New= Roman","serif";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: blue; text-decoration: underline;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple; text-decoration: = underline;} p.MsoAcetate, li.MsoAcetate, div.MsoAcetate { margin: 0cm; margin-bot= tom: .0001pt; font-size: 8.0pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";} span.BalloonTextChar { font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";} span.EmailStyle19 { font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; color: #1F497D= ;} .MsoChpDefault {} @page WordSection1 { margin: 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt;} div.WordSection1 {} --></style> =20 </head><body style=3D""> =20 <div> I never saw Eagles attack loon chicks Donna, seeing </div>=20 <div> a loon chick is rare,  for me, so that is not to mean they don'= t </div>=20 <div> just that I've never been in the area where it happened. </div>=20 <div> Maybe someday and you'll be the first to know. </div>=20 <div> But I've seen on a few times Eagles attacking Common Mergansers. </div>=20 <div> Early in spring, when trout fishing is slow and there is lots of time </div>=20 <div> to look around is when you see that. The Eagle concentrates on the = male merganser </div>=20 <div> and will repeated sky dive at it and make the merganser dive under = water. </div>=20 <div> I never saw the eagle being successful however. It usually gives up afte= r </div>=20 <div> a time and flies of but maybe because the show got to close to me. </div>=20 <div> Its always the male merganser they attack - I supposed it was because th= e eagle </div>=20 <div> had been feeding on the white chickens all  winter and the nearly a= ll white duck </div>=20 <div> resembled a chicken. But that was only me! </div>=20 <div> I had an interesting experience with a horned owl and a loon chick once </div>=20 <div> also but that story will need wait! </div>=20 <div> Enjoy the rain and the sleet and the snow and whatever! </div>=20 <div> Paul  </div>=20 <blockquote style=3D"padding-left: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-co= lor: blue; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; position: rela= tive;" type=3D"cite"> <!-- [if gte mso 9]> --> <!-- <![endif] --> <!-- [if gte mso 9]> --> <!-- <![endif] -->On February 4, 2016 at 11:04 PM Donna Crossland <d= crossland@eastlink.ca> wrote: <br/> <br/>=20 <div class=3D"WordSection1">=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">It was timely to read= Jim=E2=80=99s report on =E2=80=9C<strong>Eagle Watch Weekend One</strong>= =E2=80=9D (<em>sounds like a movie title...American, of course</em>) and Ja= mes=E2=80=99 follow-up comments.  This evening I watched The Nature of= Things documentary on the Vancouver Bald Eagle population, which is soarin= g in numbers mainly due to a large landfill and an expanding human populati= on (but began a more modest recovery earlier on after the abandonment of DD= T and changes in the earlier human customs of shooting them as ill-regarded= =E2=80=98vermin=E2=80=99, not unlike the history of eagle persecution on t= he east coast).   My point is that their populations are soaring = presently due to food supplementation.  </span></p>=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Our Annapolis Valley = eagle population is food-supplemented from industrial poultry practices, as= we are all aware.   What harm is there in that?  It has gen= erated tourism dollars, and it gets people out to see nature in the wintert= ime.  All wonderful.</span></p>=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">It now appears that t= he Common loon may be falling under new predation pressures as this large a= nd expanding NS eagle population finds new places to nest.  They seem = to be increasingly pushed to less productive areas to nest, such as nutrien= t-poor lakes in southwest Nova Scotia.  (No scientific data to back th= is up, but it would make a good thesis.) Cottage owners are documenting not= able increases in eagle sightings, including eye witness accounts of eagles= attacking loon chicks.  One such story was reported to me again yeste= rday from a lake near Caledonia.   Still another report came from= Sandy Bottom Lake last September where an eagle repeatedly attacked a juve= nile loon.  The young loon was forced to continuously dive to avoid th= e attacks, but apparently survived.  They stand much less chance when = they are younger and cannot dive for long periods.  Other loon chicks = were not as fortunate last year.</span></p>=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Where is the natu