Day 106: "And don't sass me back!" The sounds of argument came down to me like a shower of hail as I walked the Bud Blancher Trail this morning. Clearly, someone was having their place in the pecking order explicitly defined with great vigour. Occasionally, I'd hear a mew of complaint, shrill and whiny, quickly followed by a stern command. The playground bully was made to stand in the corner of the classroom, head bowed in humiliation, as the teacher executed a silent repertoire of postures meant to reinforce the rule of the roost. I have never seen a Bald Eagle look as hang-dog as this one, clearly indicating a demotion from alpha by only looking up when both birds were distracted by a low-flying aircraft. After the plane passed, Raven made a gesture of beak-snapping and a head thrust to which the Eagle responded with a resumption of the "downcast eyes" position. Authority was re-established immediately.
The dispute was undoubtedly over feeding privileges. The Nisqually Stream Stewards recently held a "fish toss" nearby, returning frozen salmon carcasses to the waterway as part of a habitat restoration project. Dead fish always draw Eagles: in fact, I counted eight or nine individuals during my six-mile walk. Like other corvids, the opportunistic Ravens are always ready to join the feast and often get into arguments with the larger birds over possession. Intelligence invariably wins out over instinct, and no sensible Eagle will stand up to a Raven for long. This one certainly knew when he was licked!
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