Posted on 04/24/2018 9:39:39 AM PDT by BBell
NORTH RIDGEVILLE, Ohio - Visitors to the Sandy Ridge Reservation on Sunday witnessed a traumatic nature event when a non-resident bald eagle attacked the eagles nesting there.
As birders and trail walkers watched in horror, the invading eagle repeatedly thrashed at the nesting female with its sharp beak and talons, eventually driving it away.
The gravely wounded female was later found on a roadside in North Ridgeville and taken to the rehabilitation clinic at the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center, where it died, said Senior Park Naturalist Tim Fairweather.
But the invading eagle wasn't finished with its assault.
Photographer Daniel Grossi arrived at the nest site about 5 p.m. to find the male on the nest keeping watch on the eaglet. The female invader was perched nearby for at least two hours, eyeing the nest, he said in a Facebook post.
About 7 p.m., the female dove for the eaglet and scuffled with the male. Then she flew away with the eaglet clutched in her talons, he said.
The male screamed, but did not pursue the female.
"It was the worst thing I have ever seen," said Caroline Gerace Martinsen, who witnessed the event and posted her sighting on Facebook. "I hope I never see anything like that ever again."
"I checked the nest this morning and there are no adults or eaglets," Fairweather said.
One eagle cam viewer said he was watching the nest online when the camera suddenly went dark. When the picture returned online a short time later, the nest was empty, according to a Facebook post from Jeff Barnes of Elyria. Glitches on bird cameras are not uncommon.
On Monday, the Lorain County Metro Parks posted a message on Facebook about the attack.
"Sad to report that the resident female Bald Eagle was attacked by another female
(Excerpt) Read more at cleveland.com ...
Poor lady has lived a very sheltered life. Nature don't play.
“It’s the Circle of Life....”
Nature....................Sometimes it’s not pretty.................
“It was the worst thing I have ever seen,” said Caroline Gerace Martinsen, who witnessed the event and posted her sighting on Facebook. “I hope I never see anything like that ever again.”
Uhmmmm....It’s nature...
I’m assuming the attacking eagle works for Planned Parenthood.
Hakuna Matata.
I don’t get what the invading female eagle wanted to do.
Did she want that nest for herself, or did she want to devour the eaglets for a meal? At first, I thought she wanted to drive the Mother Eagle out of the nest and take her place, take her mate too. Nature is a mystery. Each animal has it’s own rules.
man was hunting loons, which if course is illegal
game warden stopped him and told him it was illegal
man said “Sorry- i didn’t know, I’ve been eating loons for years”
Warden says “I’ll give you a warning this time- just don’t do it again”
Then says to the man “What do loon taste like anyways?”
Man says “Meh- they aren’t too bad- about the same as golden eagles”
[[”It was the worst thing I have ever seen,” said Caroline Gerace Martinsen, who witnessed the event and posted her sighting on Facebook. “I hope I never see anything like that ever again.”]]
Go to an abortion clinic instead- oh wait- those are just humans being murdered by other humans- how are you about that?
So this woman is a bird-watcher and has never seen anything this brutal before? Never saw a crow grab chicks out of the nest of another bird and kill them? Never saw two birds fight to the death? I’m not a bird-watcher and I’ve seen those things so this woman must be pretty sheltered. Nature is savage. Its why we build civilization to protect ourselves from it.
Maybe it was her time of the month...
We had something similar this year in the Twin Cities.
Our “Eagle Cam” nest produced 3 eggs, none of which hatched.
Partly because of the weather and partly due to predation from raccoons, as well as juvenile eagles.
The Indians will be ecstatic....more feathers for them.
There oughta be a law!
Happens everyday everywhere animals are. It’s called the food chain.
Several years ago while I was watching a squirrel jump from tree limb to tree limb in my back yard a hawk appeared and snatched it of mid-air. The last thing I saw was the squirrels tail flapping in the wind as the hawk took it home.
Magnificent experience.
Years ago this pair of mocking birds would not leave my cat alone. Every time he walked across the yard they would harass him non-stop. He could not catch them so he found their nest and ate the babies. I wanted to stop it but my neighbor lady told me to let nature take it’s course.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.