Bald eagles spotted swimming in Belcarra, B.C.

Most people will never see a swimming bald eagle in their lifetime.

Cheryl Papove, however, has seen it twice — with more than one bird.

The Belcarra, B.C., homeowner woke up Saturday morning to find a pair of eagles taking a dip at the end of her dock.

"It just thought, 'What kind of birds are those?' And just then, one flapped and flew away," she said.

"As I watched, it did a dive bomb at the one in the water."

Eventually, the more aggressive bird flew away. The second one had a go at climbing up the dock, but gave up and swam to the beach instead.

It stood on a post, ruffled its feathers to dry off, then flew away.

"It was unusual," Papove said.

Bald eagles are known to swim if they misjudge their prey and catch a fish that's too heavy to carry in flight — but Papove said she didn't see the birds feeding this time around.

"I don't really know what they were doing," she said. "But still kind of neat to see."

Four years ago, the homeowner — who's lived on the shore of Indian Arm for 16 years — saw another eagle out for a swim. 

"It's really uncommon, and the fact I saw it once ... I thought that was a once in a lifetime experience," she said. 

"Then to see it yesterday — and see two of them — was so exciting.

With files from Lien Yeung