JULY 29: Adult and juvenile over west Miramar at sunrise

Posted by NewMexiKen on Jul 29, 2016; 2:54pm
URL: http://bald-eagles-of-broward-county-florida.17.s1.nabble.com/JULY-29-Adult-and-juvenile-over-west-Miramar-at-sunrise-tp7574554.html

At 6:45 this morning, one minute before sunrise, an adult Bald Eagle flew overhead as I walked along the unpaved portion of Miramar Parkway just at the bend where it joins the SW 196th Avenue right of way. Three minutes later a juvenile (hatch year) eagle followed along on a parallel course, SSE from the direction of the PP nest to the large lake in Sunset Lakes. This is about 1.9 miles away from the location of the nest.



The adult veered, made a full circle and then dove low over the 196th Avenue canal. It did not appear to make contact with the water and flew up to continue its course. It was not carrying any prey.







Although lighting conditions were poor, its profile is consistent with that of Pride, the Pembroke Pines male. Its tail feathers appeared to be dark, maybe accentuated by the shadows, but (in my opinion) seemed to be generally stained and worn rather than tipped with dark as would be the case if it were a 4-5 year old.

The immature eagle was noticeably larger that the adult. As the rising sun was behind it, my photos required more processing to bring out its plumage details. In all likelihood, this is Spirit, the eaglet from the Pembroke Pines nest.