Hey everyone,

 

About ten minutes ago I had a pretty interesting sighting here on campus. Looking out my dorm window I noticed a raptor circling, sort of high up, heading south. I grabbed my bins and took a closer look. I was thinking at first that it was a Turkey Vulture, but that thought quickly faded and I soon began to think I was seeing an eagle. First, there was no evident two-toned wings. Secondly, this bird had a fanned tail, not like the longish, sort of blocky tail of a vulture. The head was relatively short and dark in color, and there were noticeable 'fingers' on the wingtips. Lastly, the rest of the body was very dark, almost blackish in color, except for what seemed to be a small, incomplete 'line' of white on the middle of the wing, most evident when I saw the top of the wings. The bird was circling pretty fast, gone out of view within a minute to a minute and a half. It was flying against an overcast sky, so it was hard to discern much color, save some small lines (not patches) of white on the wings.

 

After taking all of this into consideration, I feel fairly sure that what I saw was an adult Golden Eagle, but I am open to any suggestions and comments. If others agree with my thoughts, then I will go ahead and post this sighting to eBird. An intriguing sighting, and a nice break from the number of crows that I always see here on campus.

 

Cheers,

Kyle Kittelberger

Dartmouth