A freind of mine informed me that a lady (Barbara) from Foxground on the NSW
South Coast of NSW found 2 dead White-bellied Sea-eagles in one of her
paddocks. After a few inquiries I tracked her down and she told me the
story.
It was late September when she was alerted by her cows which had gathered in
a circle around a white object. The cows were making such a terrible fuss
that she feared one may have had a premature birth. On closer inspection
she was suprised to find two dead sea-eagles a few metres apart, one was
crumpled into the ground. Both were bleeding from the beak and had
scratched, bleeding talons. One bird was bigger than the other and both
were in full adult plumage. She collected both birds photographed them and
sent them to two separate vets as she feared they may have been poisoned. A
while later she phoned the vets to find out what had happened. One vet said
that the bird had not eaten for a few days and suffered from internal
haemarrage which could be the result of poisoning. The other vet said that
the results were inclonclusive but may have been the result of poisoning.
Both vets sent samples away to be analysed but the results never
materialised.
After learning of the story I phoned both vet clinics who had trouble
remembering the cases. They told me that there was definate internal
haemorrage which they suspected as being caused by poisoning but could tell
me little else. No bullet holes were found on the birds.
After doing a bit of investigation into poisons it would seem unusual that
two poisoned eagles would die at the same location unless the toxin was
instantaneous. One bird had not eaten for at least two days.
Maybe there was another reason??
The photographs have been posted on the Illawarra ABC
website.http://www.abc.net.au/illawarra/stories/s903469.htm
The photos are a bit gruesome but may provide some clues into their demise.
I have my own idea on what happened but I thought I would put it to the
giant brain that is birding-aus.
cheers
mike
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