Golden Eagles at Muskegon Wastewater

[Ric Pedler]

Sunday Afternoon 1/25/04

Carolyn Weng and Mike VanderStelt phoned me early this afternoon.  Mike
saw a mature golden eagle perched in a tree just west of the landfill on
the Muskegon Wastewater properties between Apple Ave. (M-46) and the
large east lagoon.  That bird stayed there most of an hour.  While it
was there, Mike drove east and saw a golden eagle land momentarily in a
tree already occupied by an immature bald eagle near the Swanson-Apple
intersection.  Mike drove back to the lagoon to see if the first golden
was still in the tree, and it was.

Carolyn saw two mature golden eagles flying together east alongside
White Road over the pines west of Swanson Road.  They landed in a tree
north of the pines. One flew up and then back to the tree where it
physically touched the other, causing the second bird to fly.  Then both
birds flew north and landed in trees inaccessible by car about 1/4 mile
north of White Road and somewhat west of Swanson.

My wife and I therefore drove out to WW proporties and at first were
unable to find the goldens (did see four mature balds, two light
roughlegs and one redtail).  Then at 2:30 P.M. the two mature goldens
flew right past us going east low over the pines in the exact location
Carolyn mentioned.  The birds then flew north and perched in distant
trees for a few minutes.  Afterward they soared high above those trees
and flew out of sight toward the north.

- Ric

PS:  If anyone knows who the birder was driving a red pickup truck who
saw the first golden along with Mike and photographed that bird, could
you please have that person contact me?  Thanks!

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Ric Pedler
Muskegon, Michigan
rpedler at tm.net
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