Get your claws off my takeaway! The amazing aerobatic manoeuvres of eagles tussling over a fish supper

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Wanna flight? Photographer Ray Morris' amazing shots show eagles being almost forced onto their backs as attackers gain an aerial advantage


Wings outstretched and talons exposed, relations between bald eagles can get pretty raw when salmon is on the menu.

Photographer Ray Morris has captured the stunning aerobatic manoeuvres of the birds of prey tussling over salmon-rich territory.

His amazing shots show eagles being almost forced onto their backs as attackers gain an aerial advantage.

The images were taken at the Nooksack River in Washington, a site rich in spawned-out salmon. The fish make easy pickings as they usually are worn out after migration efforts and most die within a week of spawning.


Rich pickings: One of the eagles bares her claws as she tries to force her rival to drop her catch at the Nooksack River in Washington


Ray says: 'I am lucky because the Nooksack is a river local to me. A run of chum salmon come to spawn and eagles feed on the spawned out salmon, which makes for an amazing spectacle.


No messing: After a lengthy tussle, she finally forces her oppionent to drop the salmon. Bald eagles can have a wing span of 6 to 8 feet and fly at about 20 miles per hour


'When the eagles come to feed it can be a very frenzied scene. They will fight with the other birds, feed, take-off and then return for more. It can be very hard to keep up with the action'

The eagles fly to Washington when the weather cools in the Fraser River Valley in British Columbia. The abundance of spawning chum salmon means this gathering of bald eagles is the largest in the lower 48 states of the U.S.

Bald eagles can have a wing span of 6 to 8 feet and fly at about 20 miles per hour.

The females are the larger of the species, weighing an average of 15 pounds. The males average 9 pounds and have a slightly smaller wing span.


source :dailymail