It took about a decade but I finally saw my first Golden Eagle.

While Golden Eagles are spotted in Arkansas every year, these sightings are not plentiful and the eagle is typically long gone by the time another birder arrives to get a look. They are more common out west.

That is until this winter. A Golden Eagle has been hanging around Atkins Bottoms with regular sightings since January 1. After a local shared a great photo of the eagle on Facebook, a friend and I decided to make today our day to see a Golden Eagle.

Arriving early morning, we finally caught up to our Golden Eagle as it was lazily soaring high above fields and stirring up a great flock of Red-winged Blackbirds. We watched it for a good 10 minutes before it finally disappeared from sight.

The Golden Eagle, which has gold feathers on the back of its head and neck, is the largest raptor in North America. It looks similar to a juvenile Bald Eagle so you have to look closely for those gold feathers as well as study the amount of white on the wings. Golden Eagles have less white on the wings than juvenile Bald Eagles.