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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Elliot Eagle



































Mark Stonich emailed this photo to me last week. It's a beautiful photo taken with his new Panasonic FZ150, which proves you don't need a clumsy SLR with a big honking lens to to take great photographs of birds. 

The thing that may be more remarkable is where it was taken. Mark and Jane live in a typical middle class urban neighborhood in Minneapolis. Their home is about midway between Diamond Lake and Lake Nokomis. So okay, maybe it's not typical for most cities, but it is for south Minneapolis. Mark took this picture in a front yard of a house on the corner of Elliot and East 58th Avenue, four blocks south of his house and about six blocks from Diamond Lake. He said the house's roof is covered with eagle crap.  ;-)

5 comments:

reverend dick said...

That is badass. Having an eagle in your front yard?!?


And, plus, eagles are funny to me; their eyes are so crazy. Like they are permanently freaked out.

Silk Hope said...

Yep we still have the best National symbol. Beats a turkey (Sorry Ben).

Tom G. said...

Makes sense. I hear that the lap dog hunting is excellent in South Minneapolis.

Gunnar Berg said...

Cats too.

Mark Stonich said...

I don't think domestic pets are in much danger. When these eagles were over by the 58 Club we spent quite a bit of time there, and the neighborhood cats would wander around under that nest unmolested.

We talked to the previous owner of the house on Elliot who said he found all manner of wildlife remains under the tree, including fox. but no cats or dogs. One evening he was watching TV directly under the nest, when he heard a loud thump on this roof, followed by the sound of something rolling off. He went outside to find a young snapping turtle, uninjured but with a scratched up shell.

The house was up for sale when we met and he wasn't sure whether the nest was a selling point or a liability.