![\"bald](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/bald-eagle-9890-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThis immature Bald Eagle had eaten its fill but instinctively guarded its fish from other birds by carrying it from place to place in the shallow water.<\/p>\n
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Here, two immature eagles of different ages (on the left) crowd around an adult and pick up tidbits it leaves behind.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This young bird was really pushing its luck as it tried to snatch away some of the fish.\u00a0 The adult threatened it several times but eventually the juvenile was rewarded for its efforts with some fish skin.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Serious fights over carp are fairly common so there’s lots of interesting action to be observed and photographed.\u00a0 Here you can see a carp below the\u00a0two fighting adults and another one being guarded by the eagle on the left.\u00a0 Gulls are ever-present, waiting for an opportunity to snatch away any morsels they can.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But this year things will be dramatically different at Farmington Bay as managers have made their decision and carp will not be killed in northern Utah (including Farmington) this winter.\u00a0 Approximately 60 Bald Eagles are confirmed dead from West Nile Virus\u00a0and others are still in rehabilitation.\u00a0 It’s very likely that there are more dead\u00a0eagles that have not been found.\u00a0 Most dead eagles have been found by hunters\u00a0but\u00a0duck hunting season has recently come to an end so\u00a0it’s probable that\u00a0few if any more will be located.<\/p>\n The effects of West Nile Virus in eagle populations are not well understood but since it’s known that the virus, whose typical vector is mosquitoes, can also be spread through feces and saliva it was deemed best to not take a chance by artificially congregating large numbers of eagles at Farmington.\u00a0\u00a0 This will be a huge disappointment to many but the chance just wasn’t worth taking.<\/p>\n The rationale for the decision is complex (and even somewhat controversial) and beyond the scope of this blog post but if you’re interested in more details I include this link<\/a> to the USGS press release on the subject.<\/p>\n Carp\u00a0were\u00a0deliberately introduced into northern Utah in the late 1800’s and they wreak havoc in many of our waterways and lakes.\u00a0 They’re particularly troublesome in Utah Lake and the state is in the process of removing 5 million pounds of them annually in an effort to have them under control by 2017.\u00a0 More on the Utah Lake effort\u00a0here<\/a> if you’re interested.<\/p>\n This decision will likely be old news to\u00a0some of my\u00a0blog followers\u00a0but since\u00a0many birders and photographers travel from out of state to witness this spectacle I thought a report on the decision was appropriate.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For years managers at Farmington Bay WMA have killed carp as a management tool. The dead fish bring in hundreds of Bald Eagles but this year, because of the West Nile Virus outbreak in the eagle population, managers had to decide whether or not to proceed with the fish kill. That decision has been made.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n