jeffreyjenkerson's Identifications

Flying over Johnson City, Texas

About ten years ago, in late winter, at a friend's place on the Pedernales River upstream of Johnson City, we were sitting having an outdoor breakfast on the high rock banks of the river. An Osprey soon flew down river to our location and dived down to the river. The steepness of the small cliffs lining the river and our position above the cliffs obscured our view of the Osprey's fishing dive, but he/she was obviously successful as it came back into our view above the river. As this was taking place I was telling my friend about Bald Eagles' pirating Osprey catches and had just concluded when an adult Bald Eagle dove upon the Osprey sending both birds over the cliff again into the river bottom where we couldn't see. In short order both birds were back in view, the Osprey clutching its fish, the Eagle on its tail and both spiraling upwards over our heads. We expected the Osprey to drop its fish at any moment. It didn't. In fact, both birds continued their duel for many minutes - long enough in fact for my buddy to go inside, retrieve his video camera and film the fight in the sky. We never saw the Osprey drop its prey and finally both birds climbed up out of our view. It was a spectacular display that only recently have I seen repeated.

That was this year at the LCRA Nature Park here in Johnson City and the action took place over the lake on the Pedernales River built by Johnson City in the fifties after the great flood of '52 which took out the 283 bridge. Unfortunately for me, I was too far away to take a photo, but other observers were nearby, one telling me it reminded him of aerial combat between an F-15 and F-16, the Osprey being more agile than the larger eagle.

To me, this marks the true comeback for this species locally on the Pedernales River. No doubt the nesting Bald Eagles that for at least ten years reared youngsters about thirty miles north of here on Highway 29 have contributed to the increase numbers of eagles on the river. The first ones we saw in 2005 included many juveniles as well as adults and we had the opportunity to see a few up close as they flew by our cliff side perch. I have been waiting for the birds to repopulate the river from upstream to the Pedernales River, and I am happy to report that this year another friend on the river between JC and Pedernales Falls State Park reported his first Bald Eagle, and of course, one of your members here obtained two great photos of a Bald Eagle and Pedernales Falls State Park this past April.

There is a sad historical note in all this. Bald Eagles used to live along the Pedernales here in the fifties and before - before the population crash that threatened their existence thanks to DDT and hunting by airplane - all damage done when it was legal to do so. One of the last of the birds from the fifties was found by a local rancher on a dead kid so he shot it, had it stuffed and presented it to the local Johnson City High School as its mascot. The school's name is the JC (now LBJ) Eagles. At any rate, the Bald Eagle was extirpated from our area until now. And from the numbers of Osprey in our area plus the good numbers of waterfowl that come through our area each year, these eagles are likely to be seen by more viewers. This is a great success story for a bird that should always be a part of our daily experience out here in nature.

The bird in this photo at first glance looked like a vulture, but its straight wing and large size told me to get that one's picture. I'm glad I did. Just goes to show the wisdom of the old adage: "Look up!"