Today was a perfect day. Temperatures were in the mid 70's, and there was a light breeze. I grabbed a glass of iced tea, the love of my life Fritos, my camera and my laptop and headed for the screened in porch. Earlier I moved a lot of my indoor plants outside. I hope that wasn't a mistake, but I couldn't stand having them in the house one more day. If some of them succumb to the overnight coolness, then so be it. As I was watching the orioles come into the hummingbird feeder (yes they like the sugar water better than jelly) and seeing all the other birds flit around, I heard a loud screeching type noise. I looked up and saw a Bald Eagle swooping down to attack a Great Blue Heron.
The heron was caught by surprise and attempted to fly away only to be attacked by another back up eagle who swooped in from the opposite side. As the first eagle hunkered down in the grass, the second one took over but the Great Blue Heron got away.
At this point the heron flew off to another section of the marsh. It was nervous and another heron joined it. I'm not sure where the second heron was during the altercation. They are usually very skittish, and it's hard for me to sneak out and take photos of them. I generally take pictures of them through the window. They let out the same screech when I startle them as they did when the eagle attacked. I guess the fear of the eagle was greater than their fear of me because both herons flew directly down from our deck. The first one flew into the mucky swamp water which I am not happy about but it happens whenever the water starts receding. The other landed on a place nearby where the turtles sun themselves.
The rest of the afternoon, the eagle circled and circled the marsh. The other one either sat in the tree or flew around. Late this afternoon a fisherman came into the area and the eagles and the herons disappeared. I'm sure they will be back tomorrow but hopefully they will be on better behavior.
