gut pile trail cam pictures (pic heavy)

[nubbin]

I put a couple trailcams on the gut piles every year. Here is the first sd card pull.

almost the same picture as last year, only not as good. its an american rough legged hawk.

grey fox

[tengy]

pretty cool!

[hockeybc69]

Nice pics dakidsmn!!!!!

[eyeguy 54]

cool!

[Musky Buck]

What's the 1st bird ? Really cool, mine would've been full of coyotes.

[nubbin]

nuthatch or black capped chickady

[blackdog1101]

Very cool pictures! What is the big raptor with the dark head and black beak? I'm not too good with my hawk & eagle ID knowledge.

[CANOPY SAM]

I was wondering if that is a Golden Eagle? I've seen these on deer carcasses in Minnesota in the past (massive - like a wild turkey), but people have told me they are young Bald Eagles. I'm told we don't have Golden Eagles in Minnesota, but that looks an awful lot like a Golden Eagle to me! Certainly doesn't appear to be an "immature" bird by any means.

Cool pics. Thanks for posting.

[Nhamm]

Awesome idea! In the third pic is the bald eagle attacking the other bird? And if that's the case then whatever the other bird is won because it seemed to own the pile there after. And if that's the case [PoorWordUsage] bc bald eagles you would think own most other birds

[R. Miller]

Very cool.

[mrklean]

Great pics

[PropsterII]

We do have Golden Eagles in Minnesota.

[Pinusbanksiana]

We have occasional migratory golden eagles. The photo shows an immature bald eagle.

[spivak]

You're right that it's an immature bald eagle. Rough legged hawk in last bird pictures. But we certainly have golden eagles in Minnesota. A big migration day in Duluth this last Monday. I think 55 golden eagles were counted at Hawk Ridge on Monday migrating through and one was caught and fitted with a radio transmitter. Our friend called us and we were able to be there for the release--an awesome bird.

http://samcook.areavoices.com/

[Pinusbanksiana]

You're right that it's an immature bald eagle. Rough legged hawk in last bird pictures. But we certainly have golden eagles in Minnesota. A big migration day in Duluth this last Monday. I think 55 golden eagles were counted at Hawk Ridge on Monday migrating through and one was caught and fitted with a radio transmitter. Our friend called us and we were able to be there for the release--an awesome bird.

http://samcook.areavoices.com/

Yep, occasionally they migrate through.

[blackdog1101]

-Edited- I first posted that I thought it was a Golden Eagle.

I checked the interwebs and I'd say that the big raptor above appears to be an immature Bald Eagle. Obviously pictures from different angles can be misleading, but based upon the description of the feet of Golden Eagles vs. Bald Eagles I'd say it's a Bald Eagle. Bald Eagles have yellow feet and no feathers on their "ankles", whereas Golden Eagles are feathered all the way to their talons. You can see the yellow "shins" on the bird in the 5th picture.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Golden_Eagle/id

[Andrew Erickson]

awesome!

[CANOPY SAM]

I don't understand how a "young" or immature bald eagle can be so darn big, and still not have adult feathers? Not disputing the above information. I'm sure the ornithologists know this stuff forwards and backwards.

I'm going to have to watch the foot info more closely. I've seen what I thought were Golden Eagles standing on deer carcasses in the past, and these birds were absolutely HUGE! I don't think I'd be exaggerating if I said they were 2 1/2 to 3 ft. tall from end to end! Almost as big as the deer carcass itself.

I suppose they're no different than other animals when it comes to variation in sizes. We live on the river up here in NW Minnesota, so we have Bald Eagles fly over, feed, and nest in, or near our yard almost every day. I've seen "mature", fully adult feathered Bald Eagles that weren't much larger than a big Raven, then again, a few years back when fishing with my Dad on the Rainy River we came across the biggest Bald Eagle I've ever seen. This guy, or girl was eating a fish, and it was at least standing 3 feet tall, and if I could guess a weight it was all of 35-40 lbs. If any of you know what a "breeder Tom" turkey looks like, that's what this Eagle looked like. It was so big it didn't look real, but it was.

Another time, while my father and I were playing a game of golf together alongside the river, an adult Bald Eagle silently glided over my Dad's head. I quietly told him, "Dad, look up." It scared him so bad he fell down on the ground!

I guess he found out how a field mouse must feel that day! Keep the pics coming. This is really interesting stuff. Like the big fluffy fox too!

[Majestic]

There's a Golden Eagle that flies along the Cannon River, There are also Bald eagles and baby Bald Eagles along the river, I see them frequently.

[Heartman]

"Immature" has more to do with their looks than their size. Their physical development moves along rapidly in terms of their size - the feathers become more fully developed as the bird matures. Immature BE are kind of skinny compared to mature birds too, I've been told.

[HooknHorns]

What about the different color of beak. The mature bald has a yellow beak the young one is dark like the pic of the golden.

[hockeybc69]

Google juvenile bald eagle

[delcecchi]

I was wondering if that is a Golden Eagle? I've seen these on deer carcasses in Minnesota in the past (massive - like a wild turkey), but people have told me they are young Bald Eagles. I'm told we don't have Golden Eagles in Minnesota, but that looks an awful lot like a Golden Eagle to me! Certainly doesn't appear to be an "immature" bird by any means.

Cool pics. Thanks for posting.

We do have golden eagles in Minnesota. Check the Eagle center web page

Golden eagles do not breed in Minnesota, Iowa or Wisconsin and had not been thought of as regular users of the Mississippi River Valley. In Minnesota there have been occasional reports of Golden Eagles in spring, fall and winter from most counties (MOU records – www.mnmou.org). Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory in Duluth, MN annually reports fall migration counts between 115 – 200 birds.

Recent surveys started and coordinated by Scott Mehus of the National Eagle Center, and carried out by volunteer observers have uncovered an apparently regular wintering population numbering between 60 – 100 birds using the coulees and bluffs along the Mississippi River from Red Wing, MN to LaCrosse, WI.