The eagle has landed: Bird of prey swoops in on B.C. fishing trip
'It's almost like a Jurassic Park raptor — the claws are that big'
A Kelowna man had a close encounter of the bird kind last week.
Derril McKenzie was out fishing with his brother-in-law Friday afternoon on Gardom Lake, south of Salmon Arm, when they were visited by a juvenile bald eagle.
"In just the peripheral vision I thought it was just a crow coming at us and then, 'Oh, it's a raven!'" McKenzie said.
"And then — 'Oh! It spread its wings and it's a full-size eagle.' It was quite an amazing sight, to say the least."
The eagle made itself comfortable on the boat as McKenzie and his brother-in-law snapped several photos of it, he said.
Rob Hope, with the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society in Delta, said based on the photos, the bird looks to be about 12 to 14 weeks old and is likely learning the ropes about flying and catching food.
'Like a budgie in a cage'
The bird first landed on the bow of McKenzie's 14-foot aluminum boat and then worked its way closer to him, grasping the side of the boat with its massive claws.
"It's almost like a Jurassic Park raptor — the claws are that big," McKenzie recalled.
But it was also surprisingly docile: "It didn't seem fussed by us at all. It was like a budgie in a cage."
McKenzie suspects the bird had been fed by another fisherman in the past and was looking for a treat.
Unfortunately, he said, he and his brother-in-law have been out to Gardom Lake about 10 times and have never caught a thing.
"They say there's fish in there, but we're not too sure about that."
'Mind-blowing'
Getting up close to the bird was an awe-inspiring experience for McKenzie.
The former air force man described flying as something that has always been fascinating to him.
He was a ground crew technician who worked on equipment like parachutes and ejector seats, but also got to fly along in jets with pilots going faster than the speed of sound and carrying out thrilling manoeuvres.
"Flying has always been in my blood and in my soul," he said. "So to see birds flying, whether it's a goose or a duck or whatever, it always impresses me. To see an eagle that close, it's just mind-blowing."
McKenzie says he hopes to return to Gardom Lake to see the eagle once more before winter sets in.
