Eagle gets ruddy - incredible photo sequence!

The following images are courtesy of the photographer, Lisa Sells, who e-mailed me this incredible pictorial story today. Lisa was visiting Lake Logan in Hocking County, Ohio, in early January checking out the birds. There were only scattered leads in the largely iced over lake, but there's been plenty of waterfowl - mostly Mallards, Gadwall, Canada Goose, and a few other species, including a couple of Ruddy Ducks.

Always lurking about are a few Bald Eagles. Now I don't normally think of eagles as overly agile; they seem more adept at picking at beached carp than deftly snagging rapidly flying waterfowl from the air. Well, check the action below. This eagle is a real ace!

Adult Bald Eagle hot on the heels of a Ruddy Duck. This ruddy would have fared better had it dove under the water rather than take wing. Ruddy Ducks are fairly speedy when in the air, but display little in the way of jigging and jagging evasion maneuvers.

Eagle closes in for the kill.

It's almost curtains for the hapless Ruddy Duck. Note the extreme size difference between hunter and hunted!

A bit hard to make it due to the backdrop, but the eagle has the ruddy in its talons and is making for a perch to enjoy its meal.

If you want to learn more about ducks, consider attending THIS.

Thanks to Lisa for sharing these amazing photos!