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adult bald eagle, University Lake, Chapel Hill



Yesterday I was looking for sandpipers on the Phils Creek mudflats at
University Lake, when I turned around and saw an adult bald eagle. It came
down to the water as though fishing but didn't strike anything. I think its
tail feathers or claws dragged the water briefly, creating a riffle, before
it gained altitude and flew to a pine. Later it flew south down the lake and
probably left. This was the first eagle I've seen at University Lake all
year, and I assume it came over from Jordan. The lake warden says bald
eagles are much more common at Cane Creek Reservoir.  

Other birds at the lake:  one osprey, 8 semipalmated sandpipers (a life bird
for me), 5 least sandpipers, 3 spotteds (without spots), about 3 dozen
killdeer, many many Canada geese (more than 100), several mallards and a
mystery duck that I think might have been a teal. To see sandpipers better,
I took my scope this time and set up the tripod in the mud next to my boat
in an inch or two of water. It worked! I could look at birds from my kayak.
(You're not supposed to get out of your boat at University Lake.) I could
scope the semis from 30 to 40 feet away and really see the details of the
beak.
But overall the lake has been a disappointment to me for shorebirds despite
holding what looks like very promising habitat. 

Ginger_Travis@unc.edu