Most of my outings over the recent holiday break were pretty slow. Probably due to the warmer winter season so far, finding birds of any sort has been problematic to say the least. I did have some fortune on a trip up to Pike County, Missouri on December 19th, when I found and got my best photos to date of a couple of Golden Eagles.
I am no expert in aging Golden Eagles and it seems to be a bit tricky even for those who are familiar. I believe this first bird would be considered an immature stage, likely between 1 and 3.5 years of age.
This next bird I believe to be a full adult of at least five years.
Here is the same adult Golden Eagle getting into it with a Bald Eagle. This is something I have seen on several occasions when observing the Golden Eagles in Pike County.
Sometime patience really pays off. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to visit some places on multiple occasions to increase my chances at an opportunity like this. Hopefully we’ll be getting some real winter weather that will stick around and be able to get more opportunities this season.
-OZB
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 
This is amazing, really glad you found it and you had great looks.