Thinking they had a squirrel on the roof, Jerry & Wanda Lay (rural Minonk) were surprised this past Saturday morning to find instead they had a pair of golden eagles pecking at their skylight. Upon going out to investigate, the eagles leisurely and majestically departed from the roof only to relocate in a close by Chinese Elm and stayed for a photo session which lasted through a pot of coffee.

Wanda, Jerry and Melvin (Jerry’s dad) sat at the patio table and through binoculars enjoyed the once-in-an-Illinois-lifetime show of 2 golden eagles in their back yard. When gliding between trees the larger of the 2 eagles displayed a wing span of approximately 7 feet. Not only did we take notice of them, but the eagles seemed to draw the ire of many of the resident birds from the area.

The crows seemed to be especially disturbed and would have a contingent of 5-6 crows harassing the eagles as they flew over the fields only to have the eagles return to the trees for temporary solace. The eagles have departed and the following morning was not nearly as exciting with only an occasional Japanese beetle flying by.