Thrill 
of the 
chase: Rare golden eagle 
sighting captured 
by photographer

A sequence of photographs taken at the Nachusa Grasslands earlier this month has area birders buzzing.

Eric Walters, a Zion resident who frequents the 2,800-acre preserve southeast of Oregon, couldn't believe what he saw unfold right in front of his camera lens Feb. 13.

It all started around 11:20 a.m., when Walters spotted a very large bird circling high above the prairie, just off Lowden Road.

At first, the experienced bird watcher thought it was a bald eagle. But when a red-tailed hawk started pestering the bird, his identification changed to golden eagle – a rare visitor to an Illinois prairie.

When the bird moved out of his view, Walters jumped in his car and drove around the preserve to relocate the large raptor. He spotted it again high above an open cornfield next to the preserve's Carpenter Prairie.

What happened next is what the buzz is about.

Walters watched the golden eagle – with a wingspan of nearly 7 feet – circle in the sky. While positioning himself for more photos, he noticed a sudden change in the bird's behavior.

"I saw this deer running and I thought 'no way is this eagle going after a deer,' but the golden was actually going for it," Walters said. "The deer was going full speed and the golden was going after it!"

Walters, with his camera lens resting on the hood of his car, shot a series of photos documenting the eagle's run at the terrified deer. For camera enthusiasts, Walters used a Canon 20D digital SLR with a 500mm lens.

He watched and shot frame-by-frame as the eagle swooped down at the deer as she bolted across the open field. Walters said the eagle actually raked its large talons on the doe's backside in an effort to bring her down.

"Despite deer having great open-field speed, it was clear this one was quickly losing ground to the diving eagle," Walters later wrote in a Web posting. "I could hardly believe my eyes, was this golden eagle going for a kill of an animal twice its size?"

Walters continued to watch as the deer employed a serpentine pattern. The quick turns eventually caused the eagle to pull up from the chase.

"There are documented cases of goldens taking down larger prey. This deer was going full speed," he said. "I was just lucky enough to be there when it happened."

The deer ran to cover, and the eagle began circling high in the sky.

Cody Considine, a Dixon native and a restoration ecologist with The Nature Conservancy, called the sighting "completely awesome."

"This is pretty amazing stuff to have right in our own backyard," he said.

Considine said the golden eagle's visit illustrates the restoration work done at Nachusa the past 24 years. Thousands of native prairie plants, and many critters — such as tiger salamanders, Blanding turtles, hognose snakes, western chorus frogs, shrews, badgers and bobolinks — populate the Grasslands.

"It just shows that if you plant it, they will come," Considine said.

Considine said volunteer stewards have the Nachusa Grasslands thriving. Sally Baumgardner is one of those volunteers. The preserve surrounds her home, and she was "thrilled" by the eagle sighting.

"I was very excited when I heard about it, and then I saw Eric's pictures, wow," she said. "Goldens are usually out West, so it's great to have one here. The bald eagles are much more common in our area."

Walters thinks the golden eagle he saw and photographed first was spotted by other Grassland visitors in mid-December.

"Someone saw a golden during the Christmas bird count, but we thought it was just passing through," he said. "Now, I think it may be the same golden."

Walters said golden eagles can pass through Illinois during winter migration, which runs through early March.

"There's still time to maybe catch a glimpse of it. It may still be at Nachusa," Walters said.

About the golden eagle

Found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, the golden eagle is common in western North America, but rare in the east. It is one of the largest birds of prey in North America; only the bald eagle and California condor get larger.

■ Although capable of killing large prey such as cranes, wild ungulates such as deer, and domestic livestock, the golden eagle subsists primarily on rabbits, hares, ground squirrels and prairie dogs.

■ The rough-legged hawk, the ferruginous hawk, and the golden eagle are the only American hawks to have legs feathered all the way to the toes.

■ The amount of white in the wings of a young golden eagle varies, and a few lack white in the wings entirely.

■ A typical golden eagle is between 27.6 and 33.1 inches long, with a wingspan of 72.8 to 86.6 inches. They generally weigh between 105.8 and 216.1 ounces.

Source: www.allaboutbirds.org (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

On the Web

A detailed account of Eric Walter’s sighting and his photographs appear at the Illinois Birders’ Forum, www.ilbirds.com/index.php?topic=32809.0 online.