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I forgot to mention in yesterday's Fruit Eater's
Anonymous post that I was actually headed to Powder Mountain Ski Area to
bird. Because I stopped to watch the Osprey and the fruit eaters for an
extended period, I didn't get to the mountain until about 12:00. I
really wanted to get up there early...oh well.
On the canyon ascent I rounded a curve just in
time to see a big brown raptor gliding to a landing on the road about 200 feet
in front of me. I came to a quick stop to watch him--I left no rubber on
the road, but thank goodness for ABS brakes. It was a young Golden
Eagle. He hopped, bow-legged and unconcerned, to a dark spot on the
asphalt. I watched him pick up a dessicated wafer in his beak, run a few
steps to gain speed, and then launch himself down the road in my
direction. He glided and flapped past me at eye level. As he
flapped I could see the spotty lighter plumage on his underwing
coverts. He was holding the wafer in his beak like a small dark
frisbee. He disappeared between the golden grassy canyon wall and a few
dark fir trees. I pulled up to the spot where he had plucked up the wafer
to see a small, dark, greasy spot on the road and one pale gray flight
feather. I was surprised. My understanding is that Golden Eagles
don't feed as much on carrion as do Bald Eagles. Perhaps this one's
cupboard was bare!
The other interesting thing
I saw at Powder Mountain was a female Broad-tailed Hummingbird harvesting
tiny flies from a cloud of them churning in the shade of a fir tree not 10 feet
in front of me. Occasionally, she was just 6 feet away. I watched
her acrobatic and aerobatic harvesting for a minute at a time until she landed
nearby and rested. It was great entertainment to see her from the back,
white-edged tail feathers flicking and fanning out as she twisted and whirled
and snapped for the next fly. I had the sense that I was at the back of
the stage watching a can-can dancer dressed in emerald. Occasionally
her flicking and fanning caused her white petticoat to peep out. Pardon
me, Miss! Your slip is showing!
Kris
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