Insert obligatory joke about hitting a double eagle…
Seeing a predator doing anything in the wild is always cool, but seeing something that is just completely strange and unique makes it way cooler.
Bald eagles are an incredible bird. Apex predators and skilled hunters, they generally live around water where they can utilize fish as a main source of food.
They weigh around 14 pounds and second only to the California condor, have a wingspan that generally runs over 6 feet. Female bald eagles are typically larger than males, with a wingspan that can reach up to 8 feet.
Bald eagles are opportunistic hunters, which means that they will hunt whatever prey is available to them. They typically hunt fish, but they will also prey on small mammals, reptiles, and other birds. They have powerful talons and a sharp beak and talon, which they use to capture and kill their prey. The will also scavenge or steal from other animals when the opportunity presents itself.
These bald eagles here, near Virginia Beach, Virginia, must have gotten confused as they stole someone’s golf ball in the winter.
What a testament to their good eyesight though, picking up a white golf ball when there’s snow on the ground.
The pair of eagles are seen on a frozen lake with one of the batting around a golf ball as if it is playing with it.
The eagles probably thought it was food of some sort, whether that was an egg or small mammal. Either way, they came up short handed with only a new game to learn.
“I went to Stumpy Lake Natural Area in Virginia Beach and it was frozen over. I walked out on the dock because I had seen a bald eagle fly close by while I was in the parking lot.
I noticed a couple of bald eagles walking on the frozen lake and then saw that one of them was playing with a golf ball, so I proceeded to record some of the action.”
That is certainly not an encounter anyone would ever expect.
