Bird ID Please: Juvenile Bald Eagle or ??

After consulting bird books, Cornell Lab, as well as Google images, I'm still stumped on this one. I'd be grateful if someone could help me ID this predator:

I'm curious what the answer will be. Did you spot this bird near your home, or did you travel somewhere to see it. I think we live in the same city or adjacent and I see similar birds near me. There's a family of (I'm pretty sure they're) hawks on my property.

I'm no expert birder by any measure. What I'm wondering or noticing is that the hawks I'm seeing have shorter distinct feathers on the tips of the wings, where the pictures above show longer feathers. I think(?) that eagles have those longer feathers compared to hawks.

Again, I'm curious to see what someone who knows will offer.

dasmith232 wrote in post #19063947
I'm curious what the answer will be. Did you spot this bird near your home, or did you travel somewhere to see it. I think we live in the same city or adjacent and I see similar birds near me. There's a family of (I'm pretty sure they're) hawks on my property.

I'm no expert birder by any measure. What I'm wondering or noticing is that the hawks I'm seeing have shorter distinct feathers on the tips of the wings, where the pictures above show longer feathers. I think(?) that eagles have those longer feathers compared to hawks.

Again, I'm curious to see what someone who knows will offer.

I went to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal to shoot burrowing owls when this bird showed up suddenly. I've shot a bunch of Red-tailed hawks to recognized that this isn't one.

Yes; that is a young Bald Eagle. First things to note are the huge, 2-toned beak and the long, straight wing extension with "spread fingers". The coloring would put it around 2 years old, where the bill is beginning to transition to its final, yellow coloring and the feathers are heavily mottled; as it ages into 3rd year, the mottling/streaking will move up to the head and give it a "dirty" look.

These folks have some nice example shots broken down:
https://www.onthewingp​hotography.com …es-one-to-five-years-old/
https://www.avianrepor​t.com …and-sub-adult-bald-eagle/

Aging these guys is not exact, but there are some good ballpark markers as shown above.

Snydremark wrote in post #19063978
Yes; that is a young Bald Eagle. First things to note are the huge, 2-toned beak and the long, straight wing extension with "spread fingers". The coloring would put it around 2 years old, where the bill is beginning to transition to its final, yellow coloring and the feathers are heavily mottled; as it ages into 3rd year, the mottling/streaking will move up to the head and give it a "dirty" look.

These folks have some nice example shots broken down:
https://www.onthewingp​hotography.com …es-one-to-five-years-old/
https://www.avianrepor​t.com …and-sub-adult-bald-eagle/

Aging these guys is not exact, but there are some good ballpark markers as shown above.

Thank you, Eric, excellent response with your notes and the links. Very much appreciated. I bookmarked those links for future references.

Happy to help If you're used to RTHs, wait until you manage to find one harassing a BE. The size difference is absolutely ludicrous when seen directly together...

Snydremark wrote in post #19063986
Happy to help If you're used to RTHs, wait until you manage to find one harassing a BE. The size difference is absolutely ludicrous when seen directly together...

Do you mean that RTH is much larger than BE?

Oh, no ߘ. The BE is much, MUCH larger...heh

The first time we saw this, we initially thought we were watching 2 crows chase an RTH. Turned out to be two hawks chasing an adult BE ϰߤ

SYS wrote in post #19063961
I went to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal to shoot burrowing owls when this bird showed up suddenly. I've shot a bunch of Red-tailed hawks to recognized that this isn't one.

Ah yes, Rocky Mountain Arsenal. I was there just a couple weeks ago for the same reason. The owls I found were pretty far away, or visible from their rear-ends... But between there and the proximity to Barr Lake, lots of eagles in that area...

And likewise thank you to Eric! I know enough about birding to know that I don't know squat about birding. But I still enjoy the hunt (for spotting) and I can appreciate those who know so much more.

dasmith232 wrote in post #19063997
Ah yes, Rocky Mountain Arsenal. I was there just a couple weeks ago for the same reason. The owls I found were pretty far away, or visible from their rear-ends... But between there and the proximity to Barr Lake, lots of eagles in that area...

And likewise thank you to Eric! I know enough about birding to know that I don't know squat about birding. But I still enjoy the hunt (for spotting) and I can appreciate those who know so much more.

Hosted photo: posted by dasmith232 in
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forum: Birds

Hosted photo: posted by dasmith232 in
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forum: Birds

My first ever bald eagle shot was at Barr Lake. I used to drive to Denver for my boy's private music lessons as well as the Denver Youth Orchestra participation, but things have gotten steadily worse in the past several years with car crashes on I-25 just about every freaking drive to and from Denver. Got so sick of it, and now of course there's a long overdue lane expansion project going, so unless I must, I just don't go up north. There are lot more birding opportunities in the greater Denver area, so too bad for me.

I’ve only had one opportunity to shoot at Arsenal; on a visit to my brother-in-law up in Golden. The thing that stuck out most was the number of ground squirrels *everywhere* ߘ

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/i3ov​mE

Snydremark wrote in post #19064163
I’ve only had one opportunity to shoot at Arsenal; on a visit to my brother-in-law up in Golden. The thing that stuck out most was the number of ground squirrels *everywhere* ߘ

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/i3ov​mE _MG_8372 by Eric, on Flickr

Wish I had known then that I could find Burrowing out there...

Yes, prairie dogs are everywhere, and I always look for burrowing owls wherever prairie dogs are.