A pair of brown eagles are hunting my dogs!
 

I was fortunate to see the first one go after the smallest of my yorkies (of course the silly thing wasn't afraid)! I was on the phone when the first attack happened, I yelled to my friend that a hawk (or so I thought at first) was trying to get my dogs. A few seconds later he came back and I realized it was a golden eagle, then he came back a third time and that confirm it.
They tried again today, DH is home and we got out the binoculars to confirm they were eagles. There is a pair of them and they are living in the woods near our home. I've seen them before, never this close though. They come down our way from up north when it gets cold. I have part of my yard kenneled and covered, so unless I am out with them they are only allowed in the covered area. I'm excited to see the beautiful birds, but afraid just the same for my dogs. I'll keep close watch on them, I promise!
I have toy poodles also and they seem to think my two puppies are bunnies!
Here is a photo of my herd of poodles (life before yorkies) on our small plot of land. You can see why the eagles would think they were a nice, juicy bunny. And they are dumb enough to stand there thinking the big birdy is their friend! My biggest poodle is 8 or so pounds, just bunny size.

Yikes...I know exactly how you feel! Our incident was with a Hawk tho'...but, all the same these birds will think nothing of swooping in if it looks like a meal!

My Abby was sitting pretty up against our slider (glass door) atop the back of an overstuffed chair when all of a sudden we heard a thunderous crash, bam, smack!

The Hawk literally slammed into the slider attempting to take off with our Abby!:eek:

Big dummy...:rolleyes:...laid there on the patio looking a bit disheveled and then popped back up and off he went...maybe a bit smarter about the density of glass...lol!

Abby:aimeeyork...on the other hand...looked up & went back to her snooze!

For that reason...they're never any free grazing times on the lawn unattended by myself or my son.;)

Ugh! That's one of my biggest fears and exactly why my girls never go out without me! If I was a really creative person, I would come up with something that would protect them from hawks!

Golden Eagles? They llive the summer just below the artic circle in Canada. And they are very rare birds. You are so lucky to even be able to see those birds. I know they like pups so its' good that you have a covering for your yard. Think you could get some pictures of the Golden Eagles? We in Duluth, MN were tracking one eagle hoping that it would fly into our area but he detoured west.

Eagles so close? We're practically neighbors, we're just down the road a piece near Riley Center. I've seen what I thought were large hawks, dark brown in color. We get the Red-Tails all the time but the others are few and usually in Spring. I never let Reesie out and off the leash.

Being a Michigan girl I was surprised at your post .. as I am sure you were...:eek: and you sure don't see many of them...just one more critter after the little ones for dinner..yikes

DNR - Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

I am in Michigan too and we have a pair of bald eagles that nest along the river that runs behind my house. I have a thread somewhere here on YT...found it! http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/off...ld-eagles.html

They are gorgeous but boy I don't want them coming by my house.

They have flown right over it tho!!!

DH and I have been looking on the internet to be sure it was the golden eagle that we saw. At first we thought they were red tailed hawks (tons of those around here), but we didn't think so.
The first time the bird went after the dogs (wednesday) they were in the fenced part of the yard and the bird was about 10 feet off the ground. It was huge! The bird came very close to our gate and the gate is 5' wide and the bird was clearly as big as that, and it was dark brown, not the tawny color of the hawk. It was very clear here on Wed. when I saw it, and it was definately not a hawk, much, much larger. I've talked to the local DNR a few years ago when I thought I saw my first eagle and he confirmed the birds come down this far in the winter, so I'm pretty sure they are eagles.
We didn't see a white head, so we don't think they were bald eagles...
I'll try to get a photo next time I see them. I've seen them everyday since Wed. so it shouldn't be a problem. My camera isn't a very good one, so I hope the land in the trees close-by!

You are just down the road, I live near riley center too! I'm between Capac and Emmett. Do you know where the KOA campground is? I'm just around the corner from there!

That is way cool! To be that close and get such good photos of them.
What part of MI are you in? I would love to see a bald eagle up close like that. I'm pretty sure the birds I'm seeing are golden eagles, but without a close-up I can't be positive. I've seen the same birds this time of year before and was told by DNR they are in this area... MMMMMMM
Wish I had a telephoto lens and lots of clear sky.

I'm sure you are seeing the same type of birds. I see them in the late fall almost every year. I'm pretty sure they are golden eagles, but I could be wrong... I wish I could see another up-close and personal to be sure.

Are there birds larger than eagles in Michigan?
We saw a HUGE bird fly over our house very low awhile back (before fall). It was all brown. Wingspan was ginormous! Have never seen a bird so big here. DH was in another part of the yard & spotted it too. At the same, we each said 'What was that?' We've never figured it out. We've seen Bald Eagles flying before on the Mississippi River, but not up that close & no white head on this one. He was flying away from us, so no good look at his head other than it was brown. Haven't seen him since.

I've seen cranes fly, & didn't look like that at all.

Yep, you're about 7 miles due North of us. We're near Hough and Riley Center. What I saw must have been the same eagles that you've been seeing.

But I also have to tell you that when we were building about three years ago I was almost lunch for two very large black panthers(leopards?). I was within 50 feet of being a tasty morsel. The State Police Wildlife Division had six units out in the area one night "looking for a black guy" as the one parked in my driveway said. I smiled and told him "no, you're looking for TWO," and his eyes got big! Haven't seen them since, but it's another reason to keep an eye on your pets.

Thanks! This guy was heading east as he flew over. Being so low to the ground I assumed he was probably hunting for food. We have vacant acres of land behind us. He didn't seem to notice us at all. He didn't make any sound at all... just sort of gliding. It was quite an unexpected awesome moment that left both dh & I with our mouths hanging open.