... in which I rant at an innocent bird

I AM SO SICK OF BALD EAGLES!
There, I said it. Yes, I know they're an American symbol. And yes, I know it's thanks to this status they were saved from extinction. And I'm sure they're all lovely birds with great personalities.
But: They're not the only species of eagle in the world, so please, please, pleeeease, for the love of godzilla, can we have some other eagles now?

I can accept US companies like Safari giving us the odd bald eagle. I can even accept the other companies making one, once. It's when they decide to have no other species whatsoever I start to lose patience. Isn't showing nature's diversity a big part of the model companies' mission? People already picture Haliaeetus leptocephalus whenever they hear the word "eagle", even if they live on the other side of the globe and have other eagle species in their immediate vicinity.
(This rant, in case you hadn't guessed, is partly brought on by Schleich's decision to make a new bald eagle model in almost the exact same pose as the old one, without bothering to introduce any new birds we haven't seen a jillion times before.
And partly by my struggle to paint a Steller's sea eagle and... well, you try google image searching "eagle" and see how far back you have to go to find something besides a baldy. *groan*)

I am right there with you, I am sick of both bald eagle figures and the species themselves. There was a lot of opposition to having this bird as the national symbol, it is a scrappy, mean, scavenger that has few qualities that are noble other then it's beauty. I have to say it is a beautiful bird, but there are much better looking raptors even here in the USA and it looks a lot like an osprey or fish eagle except for size.

Because of it's status as an endangered bird it causes a lot of trouble here where I live. Last year a neighbor had to move his heard of cows and they closed Bass Lake Road for 3 months because in the field where he used to put his cows to pasture a pair decided to breed and the tree was close to the road so they thought the cars would disturb the pair. What are these people thinking, the birds built the nest, laid 2 eggs and started sitting on the nest while cars and cows were doing their thing in the field and on the road. It was such a stupid course of action by the Dept of Fish and Game here in the state.

Philter4 wrote:

I am right there with you, I am sick of both bald eagle figures and the species themselves. There was a lot of opposition to having this bird as the national symbol, it is a scrappy, mean, scavenger that has few qualities that are noble other then it's beauty.

But it embodies so many great American values! [insert waving flag] Like, uh, flying and eating fish.....

I am sure LOTS of people were nonplussed when Schleich decided to make yet another bald eagle. I have no idea why. American market? Yes that may be it

But take a look at all the great birds of prey that Bullyland is making. There are many wonderful ones.
Perhap the design can seem a little boring, - they almost all have their wings and tails spread out, but they are so accurate that I can use the shape of the wings and tails to identify many of the ones I see outside here
Gosh, I hope they go on making more !

Yeah, the Bully birds are great - though I do wish they had fewer of those poses with spread wings, they take up so much room.
I've just given my red kite a much needed makeover, and... well, let's just say I can fully appreciate Bullyland's decision to keep the paintjobs simple. Painting birds is hard!

IDK what the big deal about them is. they are very pretty and what not but there are just sooooooooo many. well our symbol was almost the turkey.LOL

Philter4 wrote:

I am right there with you, I am sick of both bald eagle figures and the species themselves. There was a lot of opposition to having this bird as the national symbol, it is a scrappy, mean, scavenger that has few qualities that are noble other then it's beauty. I have to say it is a beautiful bird, but there are much better looking raptors even here in the USA and it looks a lot like an osprey or fish eagle except for size.

Because of it's status as an endangered bird it causes a lot of trouble here where I live. Last year a neighbor had to move his heard of cows and they closed Bass Lake Road for 3 months because in the field where he used to put his cows to pasture a pair decided to breed and the tree was close to the road so they thought the cars would disturb the pair. What are these people thinking, the birds built the nest, laid 2 eggs and started sitting on the nest while cars and cows were doing their thing in the field and on the road. It was such a stupid course of action by the Dept of Fish and Game here in the state.

I live just a very short distance (feet, not miles) from the northern end of Bass Lake Road. It is a wonderful road to drive, but it was much more fun to traverse before they reconfigured it several years ago, perhaps because there were so many fatalities from car accidents there. I remember that maybe five or six years ago, there was an owl which had evidently made its nest near the road (just before the fire station). Every time I would drive by, the owl would dive-bomb the car!

This also reminds me of a large blackbird with a nest on Fourth Street in San Francisco which became infamous for its dive-bomb ("mobbing") attacks on unwary pedestrians. I saw the reports in the media and chuckled, but never gave them much thought....until one day, walking down the block in question, I suddenly became aware of something flying very near to me from behind. I felt the claws on my shoulder and then a sudden sharp pain on the top of my head. I placed my hand there and then saw that it was partially covered with blood, as the bird had taken a piece of my scalp. Then I heard the sound of suppressed laughter and saw that it was coming from a homeless man sitting right in the middle of the block, who probably spent hours each day cackling at the misfortune of strangers such as myself (great German word "schadenfreude").

Nowadays, there is evidently a blackbird nicknamed "Swoop" which has been terrorizing pedestrians on Front Street in San Francisco. Alfred Hitchcock would be proud of him, I'm sure...

Philter4 wrote:

I am right there with you, I am sick of both bald eagle figures and the species themselves. There was a lot of opposition to having this bird as the national symbol, it is a scrappy, mean, scavenger that has few qualities that are noble other then it's beauty. I have to say it is a beautiful bird, but there are much better looking raptors even here in the USA and it looks a lot like an osprey or fish eagle except for size.

I agree completely, Phil. I hereby propose that we Americans begin a movement to replace the bald eagle as national bird with the turkey vulture... Just think of it as a "homage" to the bank speculators and hedge fund operators who were so instrumental in bringing down the world economy...

In fact, I've now changed my avatar photo in support of this worthy cause.

schleich61 wrote:

I agree completely, Phil. I hereby propose that we Americans begin a movement to replace the bald eagle as national bird with the turkey vulture... Just think of it as a "homage" to the bank speculators and hedge fund operators who were so instrumental in bringing down the world economy...

In fact, I've now changed my avatar photo in support of this worthy cause.

Hello Other Phil, I wonder since you live on Bass Lake Rd do you remember several years back a pair nested right near Hwy 50 and they closed part of the road at that time as well? The closure last year was way down at the other end from you all the way south, almost where it ends (I think, I have never been that far so I don't know if it ends or keeps going).

I think it would be to hard to change the bald eagle for a different bird at this point, and if we did I'm not sure a turkey vulture is the choice I would go with :-) Spikesilkenwolf is right, Ben Franklin petitioned for the turkey and it almost won. Still, based on looks alone (and the fact that for more then 200 years it has been the symbol of U.S.A. and is so highly recognizable) the bald eagle is pretty impressive.

Hi, Phil-61, I like your new avatar !
He looks as if he has a sence of humour

Philter4 wrote:

schleich61 wrote:

I agree completely, Phil. I hereby propose that we Americans begin a movement to replace the bald eagle as national bird with the turkey vulture... Just think of it as a "homage" to the bank speculators and hedge fund operators who were so instrumental in bringing down the world economy...

In fact, I've now changed my avatar photo in support of this worthy cause.

Hello Other Phil, I wonder since you live on Bass Lake Rd do you remember several years back a pair nested right near Hwy 50 and they closed part of the road at that time as well? The closure last year was way down at the other end from you all the way south, almost where it ends (I think, I have never been that far so I don't know if it ends or keeps going).

I think it would be to hard to change the bald eagle for a different bird at this point, and if we did I'm not sure a turkey vulture is the choice I would go with :-) Spikesilkenwolf is right, Ben Franklin petitioned for the turkey and it almost won. Still, based on looks alone (and the fact that for more then 200 years it has been the symbol of U.S.A. and is so highly recognizable) the bald eagle is pretty impressive.

Hello Phil. I live right off Green Valley Road, just a block away from the end of Bass Lake Road. I don't remember these closures because I never venture south on that road below Highway 50...how's that for "parochial" on my part?!! I don't know about the eventual disposition of Bass Lake Road, but maybe we should find out. Then again, I've learned that no matter where we are in our lives, we're always travelling an endless road...

SUSANNE wrote:

Hi, Phil-61, I like your new avatar !
He looks as if he has a sence of humour

I told my friend and he said "Thanks, Susanne" and then flew away to pick over some carrion...

Philter4 wrote:

I am right there with you, I am sick of both bald eagle figures and the species themselves. There was a lot of opposition to having this bird as the national symbol, it is a scrappy, mean, scavenger that has few qualities that are noble other then it's beauty. I have to say it is a beautiful bird, but there are much better looking raptors even here in the USA and it looks a lot like an osprey or fish eagle except for size.

Because of it's status as an endangered bird it causes a lot of trouble here where I live. Last year a neighbor had to move his heard of cows and they closed Bass Lake Road for 3 months because in the field where he used to put his cows to pasture a pair decided to breed and the tree was close to the road so they thought the cars would disturb the pair. What are these people thinking, the birds built the nest, laid 2 eggs and started sitting on the nest while cars and cows were doing their thing in the field and on the road. It was such a stupid course of action by the Dept of Fish and Game here in the state.

I had heard that the other choice for the National bird for the United States was the Turkey...is that true? How would that look at Thanksgiving "Yum, yes children we are having the National Bird for dinner ~ literally!" Or would we be eating the Bald Eagle and having thousands of wild turkeys running amuck in the country!

~ Sue

Why not the roadrunner as a national bird for the USA?
It is almost more famous then the other 2 species mentioned...
Meep meep.............................

WILLYBACOMAN wrote:

Why not the roadrunner as a national bird for the USA?
It is almost more famous then the other 2 species mentioned...
Meep meep.............................

Maybe it is not because of the (in)famous Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons...

Yes, maybe Phil...
But the bird always gets away, and is having a good character, which should have made him populair, or not...

Suebeedo, yes it was the turkey that was a choice. American turkeys are very beautiful and majestic birds, especially the alpha males. They are really impressive when they display. The other reason it was a choice is because it is a very smart and cautious bird, even today when hunting you almost never get a bird older then 2 years old because they are so smart and can sense a trap. They are not easily fooled by the tricks hunters use to call them in so only younger, inexperienced birds get caught.

Willy, the reason they didn't choose a road runner is mostly because they had never seen them in the 1700's, they are found in the South Western deserts and there were no Europeans who had been there at that time. Besides, I think cable didn't get the the original states until a few years after the Ben Franklin:-)

Haha, yes that is true Phil, but it was just ment as a joke, because the roadrunner is a bird famous because of cartoons...