A Golden Eagle Experience

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Arivaca Road scene
Many years ago, I had an up close and personal raptor experience that I will never forget.  An hour or two after dawn, while driving slowly down Arivaca Road on our way back from birding at Aguirre Lake, my husband Uno and I saw the silhouette of a very large bird sitting on a lower branch of a Mesquite tree, just 10 feet from the edge of the road.  Uno stopped the car, and I rolled down my passenger-side window so we could get a good look at the bird, which we realized immediately was a mature Golden Eagle.




Closeup of a natural wonder 
At first, while we stared closely at it with our naked eyes, and then through binoculars, it seemed completely disinterested in our presence and was intently looking off into the nearby grasslands.  This gave us a fantastic opportunity for a long look at it from head to toe; its sheer enormity of size, filling the Mesquite tree; its massive hooked beak with the brilliant yellow base and lining, the large dark eyes, golden-tipped crown and nape feathers reflecting the morning sun; broad brown shoulders and back, and heavy, scaled feet with feathers all the way to the tips of its long, sharp talons. This sighting happened around 15 years ago, and I still consider this bird one of the most beautiful and memorable that I have ever seen.

Check out its massive talons
As I looked adoringly out the open window, the Golden Eagle stayed perfectly still, and then slowly turned its great head to gaze at me with a piercing stare.  At that moment, I instantly had an image enter my mind of this “bird’s eye view”, realizing that only my head and neck were visible from its vantage point.  The Golden Eagle is one of the fastest and nimblest raptors in North America, and there was my head, just a few feet off the ground, very close, and a similar size as some of its some favorite prey.  Regardless of whether or not food was actually crossing this powerful bird’s mind, the feeling that came over me was definitely something I had never experienced before.  I instinctively pressed the button to get that window rolled up as quickly as possible.  The Golden Eagle continued to look at me for a few seconds longer, then went back to scanning the grasslands with a steady gaze.

Golden Eagles have a wingspan of 6-7ft, and can carry prey weighing over 10lbs
Photo credits:
Arivaca Road scene by Emily Bishton
Closeup by American Eagle Foundation
Golden Eagle landing by Tony Hisgett, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Golden Eagle flying with prey by Chuck Abbe, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.




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