Eagle, southern Ontario, 18th October 2018 (1 Viewer)

[D Halas]

Hello all,

I spotted this eagle just after four p.m. today flying westward across Sixteen Mile Creek in Oakville, which is west of Toronto on the shore of Lake Ontario. It was flying rather high up, and circled upward a few times over the creek before continuing westward out of sight. It was very brown overall, with very little if any white, so it must be either an adult Golden Eagle, or a very brown immature Bald Eagle. Some of my photos do show an apparent lighter patch on the neck, but since it was flying into the sun, much of the body was in shadow, so I wonder if this isn't an artefact. Also, the head seems rather large for a Golden Eagle. If it is a Bald Eagle, however, it was the darkest immature Bald Eagle I've ever seen, with very little if any white feathering anywhere. I'd appreciate any comments from those of you with more experience of Golden Eagles than I've got, which is none.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Golden for me. The soaring wing shape is better for Golden, and the light head can be seen in pics 2 & 3.

 

[Sangahyando]

Golden for me. The soaring wing shape is better for Golden, and the light head can be seen in pics 2 & 3.

The tail is too short though, and I'm not really convinced by its outline either.

 

[D Halas]

Thanks, both of you. It looks like this one will have to stay as "eagle sp." in my records. If only it had been flying a bit lower!

 

[KC Foggin]

I've lightened one of them to see if this helps a bit.