Battle in the sky: Bald eagle and fox

There is no question that bald eagles are skilled hunters. They can spot a fish from a mile away and fly to it in under a minute.

But they’re also masters of something scientists call kleptoparasitism: the art of stealing food from others. In my book The Year of the Eagle, I documented bald eagles stealing food from crows, great blue herons and even other eagles.

A couple of days ago, however, I captured an especially dramatic act of thievery. I saw a bald eagle steal a rabbit from a young red fox. Even more impressive: at times, this battle played out more than 20 feet in the air.

What Cali taught me about animals

If you’re the person who says, “Come on — she’s just a cat,” you should probably just skip to the next post right now. Otherwise, please bear with me. This is how I grieve. This will also tell you much more about my approach to wildlife photography than anything else I could write.