I thought this was a juvenile bald eagle then, I had jaredmizanin say no it is a Golden not a Bald. I also had a couple of e-mails saying it was a Golden. I checked my bird book and still don't know for sure. What I do know is he is pretty big compared to the other juvenile's I have been seeing. Not to worry I sent a couple of photos to the BRAINS behind OOOPs so now I wait for the experts to tell me. WRONG one said Baldy & one said Golden.
When I 1st saw them I thought they looked like a Golden Eagle, Rog. I didn't mentioned it because I have never seen a juvy BE or a gold in the wild and didn't want to embarrass myself. Still can't say for sure but both fine images
Roger, my guess would be a 1st year baldie. The lack of horizontal stripes on the tail and head coloring make me lean away from BE. I could be wrong, it may have happened in the past Do you have a shot with the legs visible? If they are feathered way down low it would be a golden.
Ted ellis wrote:
Im no raptor expert but it definitely is an eagle. Roger, can I join your Oops Club
Crystal perch shots. Love em.
Ted
Hi Ted, all you have to do to be a member is join us for one of our outings. The next one as far as I know is going to be in the spring down at Portal, Arizona.
Mr Zoom wrote:
When I 1st saw them I thought they looked like a Golden Eagle, Rog. I didn't mentioned it because I have never seen a juvy BE or a gold in the wild and didn't want to embarrass myself. Still can't say for sure but both fine images
Ken
Good morning Mr. Zoom. I am thinking I should just call it a eagle, that way I am pretty sure I am right.
Tim Kuhn wrote:
Roger, my guess would be a 1st year baldie. The lack of horizontal stripes on the tail and head coloring make me lean away from BE. I could be wrong, it may have happened in the past Do you have a shot with the legs visible? If they are feathered way down low it would be a golden.
Thanks for the information and the photos. This eagle was much taller than any other I have seen including the mature Bald Eagles. Not very wide but very tall.
Size is an unreliable field mark for birds because without a close-by reference it is easy to be misjudge. In the case of the two eagle species in question, their size ranges overlap completely.
If I saw the pictured bird (nice shots) in the field, the relatively small bill and the gold on the head and neck would lead me to record a Golden Eagle.
Bald or Golden Eagle 
Roger, can I join your Oops Club 
amazing shots once again! 
Do you have a shot with the legs visible? If they are feathered way down low it would be a golden.