This went down – or rather the Eagle came down – on the Sutherland Secondary School grounds in North Vancouver Monday night while the U13 Mountain United soccer club was training. The eagle, who looks to be young, spied them from above and clearly felt soccer, or football, was worth partaking in.
Without any warning the young eagle flew down and joined in. It kicked the ball around a bit and jumped on it and even passed it to some of the players who, along with parents, were watching with delight. A player passed it back and the eagle accepts the pass and keeps on playing soccer.
When it left it did not take the ball.
Bald eagles come from the north into the lower mainland region of British Columbia in the winter (e.g. Pemberton, Harrison Mills) by the thousands and stay for months. They more often swoop down for prey, such as mice and salmon, than to play soccer. Kids in the province enjoy watching them gobble up dead salmon, it’s quite a spectacle.
There have been many videos of eagles posted on YouTube over the past few years. In January a rare golden eagle was sighted in South Delta. Vancouver also has eagle cams from which you can get the proverbial bird’s eye view of what the majestic creatures do in a more natural habitat.
One thing they don’t appear to do there is play soccer.
