Lake Erie: April 25, 2010

Port Stanley: Harbour – 11:30 AM.

Port Stanley: Berm – 11:30 AM.

From The "OK – Not The Lake - But You Gotta See This!" Department.

Port Stanley Lagoons: 12:00 PM. As I pulled up to the East viewing stand, a huge bird flew in front of me from across the third pond and lumbered up to perch in a tree at the edge of the woods across the field from the ponds. At first, because of the light colour and very large wing-span, I thought it was a Sandhill Crane but when I finally got the car stopped and pulled out the camera and binoculars, I knew it was an Eagle and definitely not a Bald Eagle. I’ve only seen a Golden Eagle a couple of times and they were both nearly solid dark brown but I don’t think this could have been anything else, in spite of how light coloured it is. The other bird in the one shot is a crow and it’s very close to the Eagle and shows the difference in size. I’ve got messages in to my “experts” and if it’s anything different, I’ll let you know tomorrow. I did the best I could with the shots, given the distance and the fact that I was using only a 200mm zoom (and very excited, shaking hands). At least I got enough to select and enlarge the bird so I could identify it. I’ve got to tell you – it was a thrill!