ML357698271

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

a woman named robin lee and i saw this bird. i had originally spotted it from the northern part of the lagoon and snapped a single quick picture before walking towards it (that's the attached picture)--i had planned to climb cross hill to get closer because i thought initially maybe it was a rsha, which i had seen and heard hunting the marsh earlier. this bird, however, was far too dark and big to be rsha. as i walked south a woman named robin lee approached me to ask me what i thought it was and i said golden eagle and she agreed (i didn't even have bald eagle show up on my merlin app, so i didn't think to rule it out). she said it seemed too large to be a turkey vulture; it was definitely not a turkey vulture. it was a large dark brown bird perched on the dead half-submerged snag at the back of the lagoon behind the brown pelicans and canada geese. large, hooked two-toned beak. occasional ‘gold’ feathers on nape and back, which were more readily apparent when it took off. bird flew off at 11:04 to head upriver before i could take another picture, but i was struck by how massive the bird seemed in contrast to the already large brown pelicans. as part of his review process, michael rieser confirmed, instead, that it was a juvenile bald eagle, which someone else had photographed earlier.

Technical information

Dimensions

609 pixels x 687 pixels

Original file size

417.29 KB