I was making my way north along US Route 5 around 12:30 p.m. When passing the oxbow area Chris Rimmer described earlier today, I slowed and observed a large number of waterfowl, mostly common mergansers and Canada geese, out on the water between the railroad causeway and the oxbow's riverside embankment. 
Parking on the shoulder, I walked a few yards farther north trying to get a less obstructed view. Through the brush, I could see the gulls described by Chris in a posting earlier in the day. Suddenly, the gulls, I counted 19, rose skyward in a swirling mass. I thought, what spooked them? A flash of movement low across the impoundment made me think raptor. Sure enough, moments later, an adult bald eagle made another pass over the assembled waterfowl. I don't know whether it caught anything. I was not able to relocate it.
About  five minutes later, the gulls settled back on the water and relative tranquility returned. Interestingly, the geese and mergansers did not take flight during the brief time when the eagle appeared and attacked.

Blake Allison
Lyme, NH 03768-3400




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