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;Calibri&#39;,&#39;sans-serif&#39;; font-size: 11pt;">Where is the natu --Apple-Mail-52F578C1-D61C-467A-ADCC-E2DF2CD17416 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I wonder Paul if the eagle is trying to steal a fish from the Merganser rath= er than to try and take the merganser -unless you were speaking of small you= ng mergansers. Interesting the male is observed being attacked most often.=20= Cheers Ken=20 Sent from my iPad > On Feb 5, 2016, at 9:22 AM, "rita.paul@ns.sympatico.ca" <rita.paul@ns.symp= atico.ca> wrote: >=20 > I never saw Eagles attack loon chicks Donna, seeing > a loon chick is rare, for me, so that is not to mean they don't > just that I've never been in the area where it happened. > Maybe someday and you'll be the first to know. > But I've seen on a few times Eagles attacking Common Mergansers. > Early in spring, when trout fishing is slow and there is lots of time > to look around is when you see that. The Eagle concentrates on the male me= rganser > and will repeated sky dive at it and make the merganser dive under water. > I never saw the eagle being successful however. It usually gives up after > a time and flies of but maybe because the show got to close to me. > Its always the male merganser they attack - I supposed it was because the e= agle > had been feeding on the white chickens all winter and the nearly all whit= e duck > resembled a chicken. But that was only me! > I had an interesting experience with a horned owl and a loon chick once > also but that story will need wait! > Enjoy the rain and the sleet and the snow and whatever! > Paul=20 >> On February 4, 2016 at 11:04 PM Donna Crossland <dcrossland@eastlink.ca> w= rote:=20 >>=20 >> It was timely to read Jim=E2=80=99s report on =E2=80=9CEagle Watch Weeken= d One=E2=80=9D (sounds like a movie title...American, of course) and James=E2= =80=99 follow-up comments. This evening I watched The Nature of Things docu= mentary on the Vancouver Bald Eagle population, which is soaring in numbers m= ainly due to a large landfill and an expanding human population (but began a= more modest recovery earlier on after the abandonment of DDT 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 the east coast). My= point is that their populations are soaring presently due to food supplemen= tation.=20 >>=20 >> =20 >>=20 >> Our Annapolis Valley eagle population is food-supplemented from industria= l poultry practices, as we are all aware. What harm is there in that? It h= as generated tourism dollars, and it gets people out to see nature in the wi= ntertime. All wonderful. >>=20 >> =20 >>=20 >> It now appears that the Common loon may be falling under new predation pr= essures as this large and expanding NS eagle population finds new places to n= est. They seem to be increasingly pushed to less productive areas to nest, s= uch as nutrient-poor lakes in southwest Nova Scotia. (No scientific data to= back this up, but it would make a good thesis.) Cottage owners are document= ing notable increases in eagle sightings, including eye witness accounts of e= agles attacking loon chicks. One such story was reported to me again yester= day from a lake near Caledonia. Still another report came from Sandy Botto= m Lake last September where an eagle repeatedly attacked a juvenile loon. T= he young loon was forced to continuously dive to avoid the attacks, but appa= rently survived. They stand much less chance when they are younger and cann= ot dive for long periods. Other loon chicks were not as fortunate last year= . >>=20 >> =20 >>=20 >> Where is the natural balance? What is a =E2=80=98natural balance=E2=80=99= in this present day world? When does population recovery cross the thresho= ld to become =E2=80=98hyper-abundance=E2=80=99? What would the carrying c= apacity of winter eagles be in Kings County without poultry producers? They= would presumably be focused on open-water food sources and the occasional f= arm carcass.=20 >>=20 >> =20 >>=20 >> Having said this, Eagle Watch Weekends are positive natural history event= s (though they could be carried out with fewer birds), and it is also import= ant to continue to survey numbers (of both eagles and loons). Thanks to Jim= for taking a leadership role for so many years in eagle watches and eagle p= opulation counts. (I=E2=80=99ll keep counting loons and we=E2=80=99ll conti= nue to compare notes occasionally.) >>=20 >> =20 >>=20 >> Meanwhile, my vote is for mandatory use of rendering plants (enforced by t= he Dept of Agriculture and/or DNR) for safe disposal of poultry that has die= d of questionable causes in those large =E2=80=98factory barns=E2=80=99. A= nd maybe eat more free-range, =E2=80=98happy=E2=80=99 chickens(?) >>=20 >> =20 >>=20 >> Donna Crossland >>=20 >> =20 >>=20 >> From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca= ] On Behalf Of James Churchill >> Sent: February-04-16 10:46 AM >> To: naturens >> Subject: [NatureNS] Re: Bald Eagles in NS >>=20 >> =20 >>=20 >> Jim's comment below about artificial winter feeding of Bald Eagles (et al= .) might have gone unnoticed at the end of his message there, but it is a wo= rthy question: >>=20 >> =20 >>=20 >> Lots has changed since Bald Eagle populations were low in the 70s, and it= 's worth evaluating (again) impacts of artificial feeding on wintering eagle= s, our breeding eagle population and any impacts on other wildlife as a resu= lt. >>=20 >> =20 >>=20 >> james. >>=20 >> =20 >>=20 >> =20 >>=20 >> On Tue, Feb 2, 2016 at 5:56 PM, Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> wrot= e: >>=20 >> =20 >>=20 >> From: Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> >>=20 >> Subject: report on SHEFFIELD MILLS EAGLE WATCH WEEKEND ONE (long) >>=20 >> Date: February 2, 2016 at 4:55:30 PM AST >>=20 >> To: Nature BNS <nature@blomidonnaturalists.ca> >>=20 >> Cc: Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> >>=20 >> =20 >>=20 >> JAN. 30-31, 2016 [Sat.-Sun.] - SHEFFIELD MILLS EAGLE WATCH =E2=80=94 Both= days had very mild temperatures, above +10 C., and light winds, plus perhap= s 15 cm. of fresh snow on Sat. morning. The fresh snow should have helped i= n getting eagles to feeding locations, and conditions were great for gawkers= to stand around and wait for action there, but Saturday was nearly a total b= ust for the Eagle Watch (and Sunday wasn=E2=80=99t much better).=20 >>=20 >> =20 >>=20 >> As usual, on S