The nearest one..........

I've seen quite a lot of this individual eagle this winter.................


It's the nearest reliable one to Hakodate. Due to the horrible winter roads and the poor salmon run I didn't get up to Yakumo much this winter. It was nice to be able to get a Stellers more or less on our doorstep. Sort of.

I'm not sure what it feeds on. I did see it eating a fish once and it often leaves its perch to swoop down on some gulls offshore but I've never seen it catch one.

There is an immature Stellers in the area this winter too but on Sunday it was high in the sky.

The adult seems to spend every winter on the same hillside east of town.

Recently it has been very vocal. Unlike at Yakumo, where there are lots of eagles, a Stellers in this place may get a bit lonely. Whenever an sea eagle of either species flies over it calls..............is it a plea for friendship or a warning to stay away from its hillside?

I guess this may have been my last afternoon with this bird this winter: it will surely head north again soon.