A couple who witnessed a pair of bald eagles plunge into a Maine river, tangled in what they later called a “death spiral,” cruised out onto the water, saving the birds’ lives.
On one September day, as the couple were looking out over the water, two bald eagles flew overhead and became tangled in the air. They spiraled downward, making 10 to 12 circles before plunging into the water as one.
“We got our binoculars and started looking at them, and they weren’t moving, so I said to Scott, ‘We’ve got to go ahead and see what’s going on. Maybe they’re hurt,’” Lynne told The Epoch Times. “We’ve got a little 17-foot skiff and took a ride out there, 200 or 300 yards.”
“They weren’t skittish at all, they were just staring at us. One hissed a little bit,” Lynne said. “There wasn’t really emotion coming from them, they were very stoic.”
The couple were respectful and didn’t touch the eagles. However, since the birds were tangled, Lynne and Scott knew they had to get them apart.
As the couple looked back at the other eagle, they found it still in the middle of the water, catching up slowly.
“We went back and he was really, really tired, so we followed him in, he got up on the rock, and then we drove away,” Lynne said. “We figured we’re letting nature take its course at that point.”
During their close encounter, Lynne took some incredible shots of the eagles and shared them on her private Facebook page. At her followers’ insistence, she also shared the photos with Maine Wildlife, where they garnered the attention of thousands.
“I should turn off the notifications, but it’s kind of cool!” said Lynne, who was interviewed by a local Maine news station with Scott the day after the rescue.
Lynne, a longtime nature lover who gifted herself a camera to enjoy during her retirement, plans to enter her photos into a competition with New England’s Downey magazine.
She said: “I have an actual picture, so it will always be with me, versus just my memory, which will fade as I get older … I was able to capture it on film, which I will remember for the rest of my life.”
Courtesy of Lynne Thompson