Opportunistic Feeding

Nature Reports
By J. Millen

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Dennis Forsyth writes:

While watching the eagle chicks down at the Point I witnessed the following.  I became aware of a surface commotion a little off shore.  I realized that it was a Harbour Seal either killing something or playing with something.  One of the adult eagles noticed the same activity and immediately flew out.  On arrival it simply dropped onto the seal, grabbed the thing the seal had in its mouth and returned to the nest with it.  It was greeted rapturously by the two babies and the three birds began eating.  I am pretty confident (thanks in part to a tentative confirmation by Mike) that the object was a largish piece of octopus.

Bald Eagle and young on nest

Always something in nature to amaze me.  Dennis