Piracy in Our Friendly Skies!

Here in Missouri, our January weather can be either mild or darned cold. Right now, I'm hoping for extreme cold! Why? To make more action images like these:

Missouri's population of wintering Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is quite high (our state consistently reports 2,000 eagles or more in the winter). Bald eagles are known as a stately bird, one that so magnificently symbolizes our freedoms and strengths. But bald eagles are very aggressive when it comes to food, especially in the winter. Whenever an eagle plucks a fish from the water, it is not uncommon to find one or more eagles begin a chase to steal the fish:

The following sequence of images was made 2 years ago along the Mississippi River, just north of St. Louis. Notice how the fish is lost in the melee, and caught, in mid-air, by another eagle as it falls toward the river:

So, you can see why I'm anxiously waiting for cold temperatures and for the Mississippi River to freeze over so I can make more piracy images over the Mississippi!