Come up here we have 100s + . once every 7 years they all meet up here to get partners. Inside passage of BC Canada , normal times we still have lots. They clean the rivers of dying fish. Sloth
Man, they are Thick as Seagulls here, Can't hardly spit with out hitting one, between them and the Osprey's, Hawks, and Falcons, and Owls, it's like a regular all you can eat pig out fest here! The main draw is all the vermin we have, from mice to rats and nutria as well as the ever present prairie dogs in numbers you wouldn't believe, even better, all the Fox's and Wolves are running around fat and happy, and even the Grizzlies are in on the feeding frenzy! You know it's thick when the Bears are having to defend their patch from all the Eagles and other Raptors around here! Our little Buddy Screech, the Pigmy Owl is going bonkers, every time I open to door and let him out, he take off like a shot and feasts on all the bugs and moths all day long, little feller eats near his weight damn near every night, then comes back to the house around 11 pm and demands to be let in so he can take his perch up in the living room rafters and keep an eye on everything! We don't have a single bug of any kind in or near the house with him around, and the dogs know better then to bother him, lest they get a couple talons in their backs! Little Feller got attitude and knows we are suckers and give him hand outs and shelter from all who might try and eat him, and boy does he have attitude, like he runs the place! This is him just now, he likes to ride my shoulder or hat while i'm doing tractor work, you would be amazed at how quick he is at nailing any flying insects we kick up, especially great big grass hoppers or crickets or the nasty locusts we get now and then, and he is absolutely silent, you don't know he is right there on your head till he screeches or pecks your head to let you know he wants some attention! I swear, he thinks he is one of the dogs!
We get them down by the lakes. Cool to watch them fish. We get a hawks inland and given the damn prairie dog invasion I've had this year, I wish we would get more! It very interesting to watch them hunt, circling over the house then drop like a rock...
all kinds of mating pairs in N IL - had a spring couple that nested about 10 minutes away >>> the County wildlife watchers posted pics daily of the nests and waited to see the hatchlings - most are feathered out now and doing their trial flights .... a lot more eagles around these days than when I was young - didn't see much more than hawks and the occasional owl back then
I took this in Nanaimo, BC last week during a whirlwind visit to family. Next time I'll make sure to grab a beer with @Cruisin Sloth while I'm in his AO.
