More reported sightings of bald eagles

Published 7:20 pm Sunday, December 31, 2017

Since our recent short story about seeing a pair of bald eagles at the Gray Plantation golf course several weeks ago, more stories have come from area residents about their sightings of the nation’s top bird.

The latest came from Lebert Perron said he saw an eagle in the PPG turnaround area just off the ship channel.

“It was chasing an osprey,” he said. “The osprey dropped the fish, the eagle made a circle and then made a dive, picked up the fish and took off.”

David Booth, the first vice-president of the Gulf Coast Bird Club, said there have been more sightings of bald eagles.

“Particularly at Sam Houston Jones State Park and southeast of Lake Charles,” he said. “We see them about twice a month at the park when we take our club walks.”

He said they have also been spotted along Helms and Corbina roads and farther south and east toward Hayes.

And he added that there have been several reports the past month of people in cars seeing them on the west side of the Interstate 210 bridge.

“It’s important to distinguish them from the osprey,” Booth said. “The eagle has the white head and tail and when they soar they have a real flat profile.”

Booth said club members said they have seen eagles at Sam Houston park, mainly in the mornings, usually about 8 a.m. and a little later.

Eagles are fish eaters so they are going to be around water, he noted, adding that’s it’s also getting close to the time of year that eagles will be nesting and hatching their chicks.

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Others who have reported seeing bald eagles have been Greg Bellinger, Elmer Roach and Randy Roach.

Bellinger said, “The first time I saw an eagle was at the Prien (Lake) walking park. It was flying roughly north to south and actually flew fairly low over me heading up Henderson Bayou.

“In the last couple of years I have seen eagles around the Lake Arthur-Gueydan area. One was at the Mermentau Bridge at Lake Arthur on several occasions, another near the volunteer fire station at Kondike and I have several confirmed sightings in the Gueydan area just outside of town.”

Elmer Roach said he has seen eagles on numerous occasions near his house on the west side of the Calcasieu River by the locks and recently saw one on the Mallard Cove golf course.

Randy Roach reported seeing an eagle on several occasions while pond fishing on the north side of Sulphur.

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As for duck hunting, area hunters had good hunts the early part of the second split but as of late most have not been able to find the ducks.

“You would think that every duck would have come on down by now,” said D.L. Benoit. “I talked with my friends in Arkansas and they said they were iced in and frozen up and it will be that way through next week. So the ducks should be down here.

“I went this morning (Friday) and we saw only one duck. We had some good hunts last week — eight or nine ducks each day — but all of a sudden they are gone.”

Benoit hunts the fields in the Pine Island area and said the ducks they killed early on were mainly grays, teal and spoonbills (northern shoveler).

Steve German, who hunts the 4-mile square area between Holly Beach and Johnson Bayou had the same reports.

“I don’t know what has happened,” he said Thursday, “but the ducks have gone. We had a bad opening day but then limited out every day until today. This is duck weather now but the ducks are gone.”

He said that was the general consensus of the hunters who hunt the coastal area.

“We did have the best first split in six or seven years,” he noted. “I drove the beach today and usually you will see numbers flying around, but I didn’t see one duck.”

The split goes to Jan. 21 for the Coastal and West zones and to Jan. 28 for the East Zone.