Bald Eagle Thief

Bald Eagle
Flying Away with a  Stolen Rock Pigeon

I walking around  the marina  in Sanford a  little while ago, and I  had a pretty memorable experience. As I walked by a tree, a young Cooper's Hawk with a Rock Pigeon flushed and flew up into a different tree. That was surprising and cool enough, but a Bald Eagle must have seen all that happened, and it  flew over to investigate the tree with the Cooper's Hawk.

Bald Eagle
It was so close to me that this is a full frame image.
With its eyes on the Cooper's Hawk it didn't seem to care about me one bit.

It then descended into the tree, and the Cooper's Hawk freaked out, flew into another tree, and dropped its prey. This photo is not as sharp as I would like, but I believe this is a full frame image, or nearly so. The action took place so close to me, I didn't even have  time to back up.

Cooper's  Hawk
Freaking out and heading into another tree with a Rock Pigeon

Bald  Eagle with Rock Pigeon
You can  make out a little bit of the bird at the bottom of the rame, but unfortunately,
I didn't have much choice but to cut off the eagle's tail.

The eagle lost no time in thieving the Rock Pigeon. I tried to backup to give it more space, but once I moved it flew off.

Bald Eagle in Flight