Watching the bald eagle dive, we could see a rocket shape missal heading at a great speed towards the water. All of a sudden, his talons came out as soon as he hit the water, and upward he went holding a fish. What a beautiful site to see in the afternoon before sunset.
At The New Melones Reservoir, in Centra California, Tuolumne County, 68-bald eagles were counted this year. Every year the Central Sierra Audubon Society has a yearly bird count during Christmas. During the 2012 Christmas bird count, 63 more bald eagles were counted than last year.
It seems that the eagles were following the Kokanee salmon to their spawning grounds. August to December the salmon move into inlet streams of lakes and their shores to spawn and then die. The salmon's bodies are scattered around leaving a good meal for the eagles to feed on.
According to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service(USFWS), 1963 was the all time low for the bald eagle in the lower 48-states, but by 2011 the bald eagles have grown to about 10,000 pairs in the lower 48-states--bald eagles have always prospered in Alaska, our 50-state.
In 1978, the bald eagles were listed as an endangered species. In many of the lower 48- states, the birds eggs were poisoned because of DDT pesticides. The bird's eggs failed to hatch, or the bird's offsprings were crippled in some way.
In June of 2007, the bald eagle is no more on the endangered species list, but they are still covered by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald Eagle Protection Act--you can not sell, harm their nest, possessng bald eagles, or their eggs.
While watching the bald eagle flying away with the fish, we could see it heading towards a group of trees. Looking closer, we could see a patchwork of twigs and leaves, and a commotion going on in the patch work . In other words, the eagle was feeding the salmon to its offsprings.
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