[BITList] Aerial Combat!

[John Feltham]

What a fabulous story!



This came from a gent 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 magnificent flyers  
around besides us.


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 degrees 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 love it. Not only did they kill their enemy,  
they ate them.





ooroo

Bad typists of the word, untie.




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