My neighbors

Our neighbor dumped another deer carcass in the valley across from our house and the eagles have come back in full force. There are several adults and a few youngsters. But the turkey vultures have discovered the free meal as well and there have been quite a few altercations between the two groups.

The eagles tend to hog the carcass and the vultures surround them in a ring, not daring to move too close. A bunch of crows hop around the outside and dart in once in a while, causing everyone to fly up. It's quite entertaining to watch all this activity in that ordinarily peaceful meadow.

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At lunchtime, someone new joined the crowd - a fox ! He watched the eagles for a long time until one of the birds saw him and they flew to a nearby tree. There was a long stand-off, each animal staring at the other, until the fox decided to curl up and take a nap and the eagles came back to eat some more.

Mr. Fox's patience paid off, however, and now the eagles have finished their meal and it's his turn to feast. You can just see the deer carcass at the end of his tail.

Visitors

If you look very carefully, you can see five white-headed birds sitting in the trees right in the center of the picture.

Our neighbor has dragged two deer carcasses into the field next door and they have attracted five bald eagles from the nearby Susquehanna river. There are 4 mature birds and a juvenile, which doesn't have the brilliant white head - he/she ? is brown with blond highlights all over. The mature birds not only have startlingly white heads, but also white wings which show up when they fly.

Here is the juvenile, feeding on the carcass in the field. When the birds are disturbed, they fly up a short distance into the trees, not losing sight of their meal. They will sit all afternoon, waiting ,until they think it's safe to resume their feast.

My neighbor told me he had participated in the Annual Audubon on-the-water birdcount yesterday and they saw 55 different species, however, most of the winter birds haven't shown up yet - it's been too mild. He told me he had seen beaver , sitting on the bank of the local marina, watching the boats go by.

" Hurry, Ethel, you're going to miss them ! They're coming by right now !! Get the binoculars !!! Look how they swim, aren't they weird ? "

This is what we do for fun in the country....