tonycondon
Gastons CRO (Chief Dinner Reservation Officer)
This was posted on RAS this morning. Very well written, I enjoyed it:
> I got this from a friend who runs a 2000 acre corn farm up around Barron
> WI, not far from Oshkosh. He used to fly F4Es and F-16s for the Guard
> and participated in the first Gulf War...
> Submitted for your enjoyment, and as a reminder that there are other
> great, magnificent flyers around.
> I went out to plant corn for a bit to finish a field before tomorrow
> morning and witnessed The Great Battle.
> A golden eagle - big bastard, about six foot wingspan - flew right in
> front of the tractor. It was being chased by three crows that were
> continually dive bombing it and pecking at it. The crows do this
> because the eagles rob their nests when they find them.
> At any rate, the eagle banked hard right in one evasive maneuver, then
> landed in the field about 100 feet from the tractor. This eagle stood
> about 3 feet tall. The crows all landed too and took up positions
> around the eagle at 120° apart, but kept their distance at about 20
> feet from the big bird. The eagle would take a couple steps towards
> one of the crows and they'd hop backwards and forward to keep their
> distance.
> Then the reinforcements showed up.
> I happened to spot the eagle's mate hurtling down out of the sky at
> what appeared to be approximately Mach 1.5. Just before impact the
> eagle on the ground took flight, and the three crows which were
> watching the grounded eagle, also took flight thinking they were going
> to get in some more pecking on the big bird. The first crow being
> targeted by the diving eagle never stood a snowball's chance in hell.
> There was a mid-air explosion of black feathers and that crow was
> done. The diving eagle then banked hard left in what had to be a 9G
> climbing turn, using the energy it had accumulated in the dive, and
> hit crow #2 less than two seconds later. Another crow dead.
> The grounded eagle, which was now airborne and had an altitude
> advantage on the remaining crow, which was streaking eastward in full
> burner, made a short dive then banked hard right when the escaping
> crow tried to evade the hit. It didn't work - crow #3 bit the dust at
> about 20 feet altitude.
> This aerial battle was better than any airshow I've been to, including
> the warbirds show at Oshkosh! The two eagles ripped the crows apart
> and ate them on the ground, and as I got closer and closer working my
> way across the field, I passed within 20 feet of one of them as it ate
> its catch. It stopped and looked at me as I went by and you could see
> in the look of that bird that it knew who's Boss Of The Sky. What a
> beautiful bird!
> I got this from a friend who runs a 2000 acre corn farm up around Barron
> WI, not far from Oshkosh. He used to fly F4Es and F-16s for the Guard
> and participated in the first Gulf War...
> Submitted for your enjoyment, and as a reminder that there are other
> great, magnificent flyers around.
> I went out to plant corn for a bit to finish a field before tomorrow
> morning and witnessed The Great Battle.
> A golden eagle - big bastard, about six foot wingspan - flew right in
> front of the tractor. It was being chased by three crows that were
> continually dive bombing it and pecking at it. The crows do this
> because the eagles rob their nests when they find them.
> At any rate, the eagle banked hard right in one evasive maneuver, then
> landed in the field about 100 feet from the tractor. This eagle stood
> about 3 feet tall. The crows all landed too and took up positions
> around the eagle at 120° apart, but kept their distance at about 20
> feet from the big bird. The eagle would take a couple steps towards
> one of the crows and they'd hop backwards and forward to keep their
> distance.
> Then the reinforcements showed up.
> I happened to spot the eagle's mate hurtling down out of the sky at
> what appeared to be approximately Mach 1.5. Just before impact the
> eagle on the ground took flight, and the three crows which were
> watching the grounded eagle, also took flight thinking they were going
> to get in some more pecking on the big bird. The first crow being
> targeted by the diving eagle never stood a snowball's chance in hell.
> There was a mid-air explosion of black feathers and that crow was
> done. The diving eagle then banked hard left in what had to be a 9G
> climbing turn, using the energy it had accumulated in the dive, and
> hit crow #2 less than two seconds later. Another crow dead.
> The grounded eagle, which was now airborne and had an altitude
> advantage on the remaining crow, which was streaking eastward in full
> burner, made a short dive then banked hard right when the escaping
> crow tried to evade the hit. It didn't work - crow #3 bit the dust at
> about 20 feet altitude.
> This aerial battle was better than any airshow I've been to, including
> the warbirds show at Oshkosh! The two eagles ripped the crows apart
> and ate them on the ground, and as I got closer and closer working my
> way across the field, I passed within 20 feet of one of them as it ate
> its catch. It stopped and looked at me as I went by and you could see
> in the look of that bird that it knew who's Boss Of The Sky. What a
> beautiful bird!
