A 71-year-old man fishing near the shore of a Florida lake has been attacked and killed by a 12-foot alligator. The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission reported that Steven Hamilton of Winter Garden was standing near the shoreline of Lake Apopka in Dr. Bradford Memorial Park, northwest of Orlando, when the reptile struck at around 5 p.m. Winter Garden Fire Chief Jose Gainza told FOX35 that the presence of other active alligators complicated any chance of rescuing Hamilton, whose body was recovered around 7 p.m. The 11.8-foot alligator was captured and killed by state wildlife officials.

Officials say bird flu caused the death of a bald eagle named Jackie who had become an internet sensation and a symbol of the species’ recovery in California. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a news release Wednesday that a necropsy and additional testing found that the primary underlying cause of Jackie’s death in August was highly pathogenic avian influenza. In the weeks leading up to her death she was being treated at the Ojai Raptor Center for a variety of ailments including anemia. Chris Eksteen, the center’s director, said in the news release that the necropsy results “have helped connect many of the findings” they saw throughout her hospitalization.

Manhattan’s Upper West Side has been reveling in the company of its latest celebrities: A family of barn owls nested in a water tower atop a building near Central Park. An expert says this is the first documented instance of barn owls nesting in Manhattan in modern history. The owls have attracted nightly crowds of people in the street eager to get a glimpse of the elusive birds, including a nature photographers. Word of the owl family spread last week when an Upper West Side resident notified a local news outlet that she and her husband saw multiple owls at the water tower, located on West 75th Street close to Central Park West.