Red Kite and Golden Eagle

Now I have a working computer I have been able to get through much of my backlog of video footage. But also while I have been doing this I have been able to listen to some of the pod casts that I utilise to keep me informed of what's happening around the world. There was one gem of information that caught my attention regarding Golden Eagles on the East Coast of the United States.

While there is good knowledge of Golden Eagles on the West Coast, little is known of and about them on the East Coast. While there are sightings of them, no one even knows what the size of the population is. There are now two Eagles tagged with radio tags so that the range and territory size can be established.

It is hoped that from this base data combined with sightings that a baseline number of the population can become known and hence any work that is needed to help conserve the bird can then be worked out.

As I have a regular reader who sees Golden Eagles regularly, even though officially they are not present in her State, this type of basic research is needed. Unless there is this baseline data how can wildlife conservators know if there are any problems with a population. It could be that there are no problems and the birds are healthy. However, where there are gaps in populations that could indicate that there are difficulties that need redressing.

I will up date you when I discover more information, but it shows just how little we actually know.

Going back I mentioned that I got some great film of the Red Kites, can you see a raptor slant here. Well I have finally got to the point where I can deal with this footage. I have more so be prepared to be bored.

This film is of a Red Kite getting harassed by a crow. It is not until I slowed the footage down that I was able to see that the crow was trying to pull out the Kites tail feathers. When I filmed the event, I could not be sure I had got the behaviour on film, and in focus, but I really am pleased by this.