I was on my way into town this morning from Kurten traveling down FM 1179 and got to Morgan Rd and saw a large bird circling above. When it would get to a certain point I noticed the tail would flash and appear white. As I got closer I could see it wasn't a black vulture due to the tail being fanned out and the wing tips being different. I got even closer and saw that the head was white. I normally carry a camera but due to my errands decided not to. I pulled over to try the cell phone camera but it made a straight ling toward town. Has anyone seen an eagle in Brazos Co.? I wonder where it may hang out.

Cross posted in the outdoor forum. Edit: I have exceeded my daily limit which must be one since I haven't posted anything else today.

Cool if true. I've seen some hawks with white, too.

Probably hang out around the river.

There are some in Waco on the lake and can also be seen occasionally in the downtown Waco area along the river.

There are a couple nesting pairs at Somerville.

Thanks for the input. This wasn't a hawk, much larger. I've been told by friends that mine is not the first sighting.

Bald eagle at gibbons creek also. They are here and around the area.

quote:

---

Cool if true. I've seen some hawks with white, too.

---

Why would you think it's not true?

quote:

---

quote:

---

Cool if true. I've seen some hawks with white, too.

---

Why would you think it's not true?

---

Because poeple think house cats and yellow labs are mountain lions. Also, how were its wing tips different? White wing tips probably means it was a crested caracara (aka, mexican eagle). Might have been a bald eagle but the caracara is far more common around here. I've seen both. Rarely the bald eagle.

quote:

---

quote:

---

quote:

---

Cool if true. I've seen some hawks with white, too.

---

Why would you think it's not true?

---

Because people think house cats and yellow labs are mountain lions. Also, how were its wing tips different? White wing tips probably means it was a crested caracara (aka, mexican eagle). Might have been a bald eagle but the caracara is far more common around here. I've seen both. Rarely the bald eagle.

---

Caracara was my first thought as well, as they have expanded their range quite a bit in recent years and are becoming an increasingly more common sight in local skies.

Most likely Mexican Eagle. I see them regularly on my farm in North Grimes County.

If it was circling, similar to the way a vulture soars, as implied in the OP, it very likely was a Bald Eagle. From a distance the BE can easily be confused with our local vultures. Caracara do not usually soar like a vulture or BE do, they are usually flapping their wings and flying in a deliberate line, usually fairly close to treetop or ground level.
If the OP can confirm this behavior and that there was no white on the wings, it likely was a BE. They are definitely in this area during the winter months. I have photos of them from around Somerville Lake in previous years.

I am very familiar with vultures, caracara and though I've never seen one live, bald eagles. I like to photograph birds and label them properly. If anyone cares to look. My Flickr

The bird was larger than a mexican eagle and did not fly like one either. They (caracara) are in the area though I haven't seen one in some time. I have been wanting to photograph one but haven't had the opportunity yet. The wingtip feathers were not spread like a vulture and there was no white. The fanned tail glistened white at the same point in it's circle each time. When it flew off it was very high in the air unlike a caracara.

My primary reason for posting was to see if there have been other sightings of one in or close to town. Thanks.

Caracara's are almost common throughout the BV now days. Bald Eagles, while not common, are certainly not rare, especially in winter. I don't know if the nesting pair at Gibbon's Creek stays around. However, I have seen mature Bald Eagles in the Navasota bottom several times in the last decade, so if you think it was a Bald Eagle it probably was.

I believe there is more than one nesting pair in the Gibbons Creek area. This week I saw 2 juveniles (no white yet) chasing each other in that area, chattering at each other the entire time. Those young ones have generally hung around their parent's nest for quite some time in the past.

Bald Eagles have gotten to be very common in recent years. You can find them close to pretty much any decent sized water(food) source this time of year. Ive seen them around the Brazos, Navasota, and Somerville.

Is a boat necessary to get close to the ones at Gibbons Creek? Honestly as long as I've heard about and lived close to this reservoir I have never been there. I've only driven by the entrance.

quote:

---

Is a boat necessary to get close to the ones at Gibbons Creek? Honestly as long as I've heard about and lived close to this reservoir I have never been there. I've only driven by the entrance.

---

The only time I saw one there was on the back side, so boat would be needed.Two years later, a game warden docked on our boat as we caught and undersized Black Bass that was going to die as it swallowed the hook. We asked if we could keep for that reason. he said no, let it go and it will become bald eagle food.

Got the impression they lived there year round but honestly not sure.

Rio Brazos Audubon members have seen Bald Eagles on both sides of BCS. We've got one just over the Brazos River that looks like it might stay a while. Crested Caracara are more common that Baldies, and often mistaken for the eagles as was mentioned above.

This is an Ebird report of Bald Eagles for Brazos County. This is Crested Caracara. Lots of overlap between the two. Ebird is a citizen science project that allows people to submit their bird sightings for further analysis. If you click on the map button, it will give you a overview of where they're being seen.

At the Gibbons Creek Christmas Bird Count last year, my wife and I saw 5 Bald Eagles from the spillway (3 sub-adult, 2 adult) for about 30 minutes. I don't think they are always over there, but it's not unheard of. I think they are here year round, but we don't get frequent reports from Grimes County.

As for hawks with white tails, there was a sighting and photo documentation of White-tailed Hawks at the Horizon Turf Farm in Burleson County a few weeks ago. It's a great sighting for the area- pretty infrequent.

We're conducting the College Station Christmas Bird Count this weekend- I'll let you know if we turn anything unusual up!

Supposedly one flying around the intersection of Texas and Southwest Pkwy.

Thanks for the information Yellowstone.

I have no doubt it was a bald eagle. Went looking today and only vultures and red tailed hawks. Got a few nice shots of the hawks.

Gibbons creek does have a nest or two, and I am aware of there locations as we have to ensure that our projects will not be constructed around there nests during nesting season.

quote:

---

I am very familiar with vultures, caracara and though I've never seen one live, bald eagles. I like to photograph birds and label them properly. If anyone cares to look. My Flickr

The bird was larger than a mexican eagle and did not fly like one either. They (caracara) are in the area though I haven't seen one in some time. I have been wanting to photograph one but haven't had the opportunity yet. The wingtip feathers were not spread like a vulture and there was no white. The fanned tail glistened white at the same point in it's circle each time. When it flew off it was very high in the air unlike a caracara.

My primary reason for posting was to see if there have been other sightings of one in or close to town. Thanks.

---

Great photos.

After you've seen them a few times, it's pretty easy to tell them from hawks. The sheer size of the wings and thus the slower wing beat are a good indication. The only confusing ones are the immature balds and goldens with white splotches and non-white (or golden) heads.

If there is water, there are ducks. If there are ducks, there are often eagles munching on them. We get several through the Panhandle each winter. A couple of old photos of mine from Randall County:

This is a great thread!!!!

There is a nesting pair of baldies near the expo center. They have been here off and on for several years. There are several private ponds, tanks and lakes out this way and they seem to love grabbing ducks and snakes and the occasional rabbit. At least thats what we have seen them ripping apart.

The sheer size and wing shape of a baldie is easily distinguishable from a Carcara. A white head and tail along with their size helps to ID them.

quote:

---

quote:

---

I am very familiar with vultures, caracara and though I've never seen one live, bald eagles. I like to photograph birds and label them properly. If anyone cares to look. My Flickr

The bird was larger than a mexican eagle and did not fly like one either. They (caracara) are in the area though I haven't seen one in some time. I have been wanting to photograph one but haven't had the opportunity yet. The wingtip feathers were not spread like a vulture and there was no white. The fanned tail glistened white at the same point in it's circle each time. When it flew off it was very high in the air unlike a caracara.

My primary reason for posting was to see if there have been other sightings of one in or close to town. Thanks.

---

Great photos.

---

Thank you.

Nice shots CA77.

Thanks all for the additional information.

Thanks Bmo, but yours are a class above mine. I just upgraded my camera body and normal lens, I need to upgrade to an good tele.

Just be careful when trying to photograph eagles, they don't like it!

Spotted this beauty on Peach Creek road late this afternoon.

We have seen 2 in the past few months. One was in a field on Sandy Point Road just SE of the lake. The other was just a few weeks ago as we crossed the Navasota River on Hwy 6. It was flying over the river. Very cool!

Good opportunity there Dave. Congrats on the image. I sure want to see another when I have my camera with me.

Incredible thread!

And thanks for the Flickr link, some of those humming bird shots are just amazing. And the foxes are pretty cool too!

Thanks KidDoc. I appreciate the nice comments. I'm proud of several of the hummingbird shots I admit.

I really enjoy watching and photographing Bald Eagles. I wish there was a place with high visibility of them close by here. There may be something like that nearby, but if so it is not highly publicized or easily accessed.
I say that because I have been to a few places like that, but the distances can be pretty prohibitive. A few years ago a pair of eagles built a nest near Baytown, east of Houston, right across the road from the golf course there. The nest itself was about 75 yards from the road, but the parents would frequently fly to a tree that was only 20-30 yards from the road. People would line up along the road to watch and photograph them. That's where the image I posted earlier, with a little Photoshopping, came from.
We just returned a few days ago from visiting our son who recently moved to Baltimore, MD. Earlier in the year, I happened to learn that there is a place about an hour away from there that was known for the concentration of Bald Eagles that frequent it during the winter. It is called Conowingo Dam, and is a hydroelectric generating station on the Susquehanna River near the border of Maryland and Pennsylvania.
The dam presents a unique opportunity for viewing eagles. As water from the river passes through the turbines, many fish are killed or stunned as they pass through. When they emerge downstream from the dam, they are easy pickings for the many birds, such as eagles and seagulls, waiting for an easy meal.
The day I was able to go there was not the best of conditions. Heavy overcast and cold, as it had snowed some the afternoon and evening before. Besides the hundreds of seagulls, there were a few dozen vultures hanging around, and I would estimate about 20 Bald Eagles.

Here are some shots from a sequence I got of an immature baldy snatching up a fish from the river. You can see the dead fish just floating on the surface of the water.







Once the birds have their prize, the real test comes into play. Other eagles will see the grab, and try to steal the fish away from the original owner. It was really fun to watch the aerobatic maneuvers these birds would put on display.





Anyway, I don't mean to hijack this thread, but just thought I would share about this unusual location just in case anyone happens to be in that area sometime and would like to check it out. I wish I could have spent more than one morning there, and under better conditions. Quite the place for eagle lovers, and I understand it gets quite busy on weekends, for obvious reasons.

If you really want to see eagles, Point Roberts Wa.
It's about a 1 mile walk along the beach from our usual rental on Bayview to Lily Point.
Last time we were there I stopped counting at 70.