An Eagle Show

I got out of work early today. Unfortunately I did not plan ahead so after I got out of work I came home. I ate a sandwich and packed a little clothes. My intentions were to go to a pond in Middletown and do some hiking/birding. I got back on the highway about 2:30. I thought this would give me enough time to get through Providence before the evening traffic. I was wrong. Although I got through the city unscathed, I-195 was at a standstill. I only had about an hour and a half until dark and, I was still almost an hour away from my destination.

So I bypassed the ramp and continued south. I came up with a back up plan. There is a pond in Coventry that sometimes has wintering eagles. So I figured I'd go take a look. I went to a beach (yes Dave, that beach we fish at) and looked in the trees for the white head. Nothing.

To the north I saw some gulls along the main road. I went to go see if any might be unusual. As I drove up, I saw all the gulls flying off along with a few ducks. I thought " Man, just my luck" then I thought, maybe something spooked them so I got out anyway.

Out on the ice was an adult bald eagle. Under it was a female mallard duck. The eagle started ripping feathers out. After a minute, the eagle jumped off the duck and stood eight feet away. To my surprise (and a to my and my horror) the duck was still alive. It couldn't stand up or fly. It just kept quacking. This went on for a solid five minutes. The whole time I was quietly wishing the eagle would finish it off and put it out of its misery. Then the eagle jumped back onto the duck and started eating it alive until it perished.

The eagle ate its full and then flew off toward the beach I was originally at. I wish I didn't have to watch the duck suffer for five minutes. But watching an eagle tear apart its meal and just be such a cool bird was a fun experience. In the end I was glad the highway was clogged.