Coolest thing I've seen

[xcaret]

At Costco by SFO, a bald eagle soaring !!
Told a Costco employee Wanna see something cool?
Pointed, a bald eagle...
-Oh yeah, wonder what it's doing here...
-Me

 

[tankguy]

i would have liked to see that

 

[sfsuphysics]

You were near the airport, sure it wasn't a plane? : D:

 

[Coral reefer]

They have 2 at the sf zoo. Super cool birds.

 

[xcaret]

At first I thought it was a small airplane, small-ish, very tiny but I kept looking and you cannot mistake a white head and a white tail; could have mistaken it for a large hawk such as a red tail but nope, an adult bald eagle in all its might. Two or three years ago we took our son to a summer camp, around Stanford on 280, a bird crossed the freeway in front of us, a bald eagle, also adult; I told my family to look at it, they were either arguing or trying to chose someone's tunes over the others.
They are a rare view in the metropolitan area.

 

[coral4me]

They released several breading pair of Bald Eagles at Calaveras and Crystal Springs Reservoirs within the last decade.

 

[xcaret]

I took a very shaky video on the phone but I can see it flying and both white head and tail feathers as it soares in circles. Times like this is when you wish to have a nice zoom camera and a very steady arm.
Crystal Springs, that would explain to the young Costco employee a little of what the eagle was doing there.
Still, an amazing thing to watch and more above an urban area.
More back in time, around four, five years ago while having lunch at work in the Nob Hill area, I looked up the sky and two big hawks were chasing a bigger bird away, could not tell if it was a golden or young bald eagle due to the lack of the white feathers. Territorial statement I guess.