An incompetent bald eagle

[I am away from Maine visiting family, and have missed the huge snowstorms. Instead, something from the fall.]

Today I have a departure from my usual posts. All the videos here were taken by a friend of mine, Bruce Barrett, from his home a few miles from mine. Thankyou Bruce for allowing me to post these.

Bruce was watching two bald eagles that were hanging out in the pine trees in the fall. Here is one hunting a goose, making two unsuccessful attempts:

At least it flew off to a nearby tree. On two other days, it was even less successful. It somehow ended up in the water, and these two videos show it SWIMMING to safety!

I had no idea eagles could do this, although I have seen one paddling, as it drank:

I suppose it is quite useful to be able to swim: bald eagles are not very good hunters, and a lot of their food comes from scavenging, and from stealing other bird’s kills. The one in the videos stooped to try and grab the waterfowl with one or both feet, but they often need multiple attempts before they are successful.

PS The goose in the first video apparently seemed injured and had trouble flying any distance. The eagle eventually got it, after the pond was frozen.