UNINVITED GUEST BY JOHN BERRY

There is more to fishing than just catching fish. For me, a big part of the experience is to observe nature up close and personal. I love to watch for changes in the weather and the seasons. Wild flowers and blooming trees are always special to me. I especially enjoy observing wildlife. I have seen a herd of no less than seventeen deer swim the river in front of my boat. I have watched a family of otters play before me and I have observed woodchucks, mink, beaver and muskrat on numerous occasions.

There is an abundance of birdlife on the river with wild turkey, kingfishers, pileated woodpeckers, cliff swallows and other birds on a continual basis. There are two species of birds that are of particular interest, to me, that I observe, on almost a daily basis, the great blue herons and the bald eagles. These are two magnificent birds of prey and as such both are protected species.

The great blue heron is about four feet high with a wing span of up to six and one half feet. They are very common around here as they are wading birds that feed on fish. I have personally observed one of them taking a fourteen inch rainbow trout and swallowing it whole. They build their nests in tall trees near the water.

The bald eagle, our national emblem, since 1782, is in my mind, the most majestic creature in nature. I am moved every time I see one. Once endangered, it has made a miraculous comeback. I now see them just about every day that I spend on the water. It feeds on fish predominately but will eat other animals and carrion. It is at the top of the food chain. They stand about three feet tall and can have a wing span of seven and a half feet. They build their nests in tall trees near the water. Their vision is amazing. I have seen an eagle, in a tree, swoop down over five hundred yards to scoop a trout from the surface of the river.

These large birds have much in common and sometimes come into conflict with each other.

This spring I noticed that a pair of herons had built a nest in a tall sycamore tree upstream from Rim Shoals. There are babies in it and the parents are taking turns catching fish and feeding them in the nest. I can see the immature herons at feeding time and the make quite a racket. The herons, like most birds, feed them by regurgitating their food into the baby’s mouth.

Two weeks ago I noticed a bald eagle in the same tree ten feet above the herons nest. The eagle is obviously waiting for a chance to kill and eat the immature herons but will not strike, while one of the adult herons is in the nest guarding it. What an excruciatingly gruesome situation. It would be like you feeding your child in a high chair in the dining room, with an axe murderer in the kitchen.

I am amazed that the eagle is as patient as it is. Every time that I pass the tree it is there just above the nest waiting for its chance. It reminds me of my cat, Winston. He will sit for hours in the monkey grass below a bird feeder waiting for a chance to catch a bird. Despite being declawed, he occasionally gets one.

I don’t know who will win the heron-eagle standoff. It sure makes for some interesting observation. I am pulling for the heron!