With a voyeuristic magpie and evidence of additional drama on the ice thrown in for good measure.
- These eagles were a great distance away so the following images are heavily cropped and of documentary quality only.
Yesterday morning things got hot on the cold ice at East Canyon Reservoir.
The ice was peppered with old fishing holes drilled in the ice by ice fishermen and these two Bald Eagles were hanging around some of them. Even though the ice is now thin, soft and mushy the fishing holes had frozen over so I wondered what the attraction was for the eagles.
Several times the eagle on the left put her head down near one of the holes in the ice so I thought there might be bits of a frozen fish embedded in the ice.
The second time she did it I thought she might be cleaning her bill on the ice.
But now I wonder if it wasn’t some kind of solicitation behavior because the male behind her…
certainly seemed to think it was.
He mounted her with mating obviously in mind. The sudden frenzy of activity startled the magpie who began to make his getaway but…
he quickly put on the brakes when he realized they were ignoring him and there might be something interesting about to happen..
As is often the case with mating birds the back of the female was an unstable platform so the male struggled to maintain his balance and get the job done at the same time.
The magpie sure didn’t want to miss anything.
The female hunkered down to the point that eventually…
she was essentially laying down on the ice.
Immediately after the “cloacal kiss” was accomplished she turned to him and they appeared to tenderly touch beaks. Either that or she was telling him to get the hell off her back. I suspect it was the former because after he dismounted…
she sure seemed pleased with their performance.
After their mating was over I hung around for a while in case they took off and allowed me some decent flight shots but they seemed content on the ice so eventually I left the area.
I took this shot with another camera at 35mm to give viewers a more expansive look at what I was seeing. The eagles are on the ice in the middle of the frame.
Notice the tracks on the ice passing just to the right of the eagles. More about them below.
Here’s another perspective taken with my cell phone. The eagles are the tiny dots in the center of the frame and marked with the smaller red arrow.
If you’re on a large screen and have sharp eyes you should be able to see tracks on the ice beginning at the far shore, passing just to the right of the eagles, and ending near the center right of the frame. Those prints were almost certainly made by a large mammal, probably a deer or an elk, and it was obvious to me that the animal fell through the ice where it thinned near the shore. The larger red arrow marks the spot where the ice gave way and we can see where the animal struggled through the thin ice to reach the nearby shore.
Even though they were far away these Bald Eagles saved my morning – other than photographing them I was essentially bird-skunked. And I believe it was the first time I’ve ever photographed Bald Eagles mating so the drive up into the Wasatch Mountains was definitely worth it.
Ron
Notes:
- Most of these photos were taken at or near 1/4000, f/7.1, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender. The first eleven photos were all cropped to 35% of the original image.
- Very few of Utah’s wintering Bald Eagles remain in the state for the breeding season – most head north to raise their young. There’s at least one Bald Eagle nest in this general area but at least one of those eagles was on the nest as I passed by so seeing these eagles mating on the ice several miles away encourages me. Hopefully they’ll nest in Utah this year.
Wonderful series Ron. Loved the Magpie also. You and Mia make my day.
Thank You.
Wow! that was really something, especially the touching of beaks after.
Another great series…sharing things I’d never get to see if you didn’t so generously share them…THANK YOU….
I’m glad you appreciate them. Thanks very much, Patty.
Wow! Those shots are something else! Thank you for including the “full field” perspectives — shows just how powerful your lens is!
Glad this pair were able to have normal interactions and not have to self-distance. 🙂 The Magpie is the perfect comic foil.
Thanks, Marty. My lens probably isn’t as powerful as it looks like it is in this comparison. Keep in mind that nearly all of these photos were cropped to about 1/3 of the original image and one of the last 2 photos was taken at 35mm. About 50mm is considered “normal”.
Very entertaining. Brings new meaning to the Ice Capades—the x-rated version. Recently saw a pair mating in a tree across the street. On ice or in a tree, don’t try this at home, folks.
“Ice Capades” – wish I’d thought of that one!
The magpie wasn’t the only voyeur.
What an incredible series – and I loved the background shot too.
“I loved the background shot too”
Good. For the first few years I was blogging I never included shots like that but I think they add to the experience for readers so now I include them when I can. Thanks, EC.
They do indeed add to the experience and the perspective for this reader. Many thanks.
Great find! I hope they stay and nest. I’ll keep watch for them.
I hope so too, April. Just after 7 this morning while we were on the way to the island I said to Mia “I wonder if April is on the lek already”. Hope you were.
Nice work, Ron. Reminds me of the time I watched a pair of wild turkeys mating, while another tom looked on, and when the active tom dismounted I saw two females beneath him, facing in opposite directions. The gratifying thing about this series is that we get to see rarely seen, the female’s solicitation behavior. The magpie may have been taking notes.
“The magpie may have been taking notes”
Hmmm, perhaps you’re right, Martha!
This is something you don’t see very much, unless you watch the Eagle Web cams that are close to a nesting pair. Those are some great catches with the lens. My town is under quarantine with 3 cases of the virus at this time. Please be careful.
Thanks, Trudy. Stay safe!
Wonderful series, Ron…… 🙂 Sunshine (YES) tho a bit of wind this morning. Doing well……. 🙂
Thanks, Judy. Very glad you’re feeling better!
Hi Ron, what a wonderful documentary of an event that so few of us are honored (lucky or maybe persistent enough) to witness. It just goes to show us that continual practice of the art of nature photography sometimes turns up a wonderful reward for time well spent. Wonderful pics. Wonderful story. Great story teller!
Thanks, Rick. Put in enough time at it and eventually something wonderful will happen.
For me, Bald eagles are the crown jewel of the bird world ❗️So lucky to have spotted those two tiny dots on the ice. I’ve been lucky enough to spy on our local eagles bonding while sitting on small branches. Quite the balancing act.
So bird-skunked but eagle blessed 😁
“For me, Bald eagles are the crown jewel of the bird world”
I think a lot of folks would agree with you, Diana.
Spectacular series Ron. In all the years I have followed and photographed our eagles here I have never seen them mate. Many times I have seen the courtship, but never the mating. Thanks for sharing this. Just like the Mallards pushing the poor female down under the water as they go through the mating ritual, if you didn’t know what they were doing you would think the male was trying to kill her. 🙂
Oh, and having the Magpie there made for a very amusing post.
Happy St. Pat’s Day to everyone.
It was a first time for me too, Everett – except for one time when they were so far away my photos were very poor.
I agree, I think the magpie adds an interesting flavor to the series.
Wonderful nature series! Excellent captures! You were clearly in the right place at the right time, with the right skills, knowledge and equipment. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks very much, Steve.
Boys and girls do what boys and girls do and the various Earthly species move onward. LOVE this series! But talk about eagle eyes! Heck I’d never have seen that photo op!
Laura, I can’t take credit for spotting them. Mia did, I was driving and besides she has better eyesight than I do.
These photos give me chills! What an amazing series and, without the panoramic shots, we could not grasp just how far away the eagles were. Thank you for your devotion to your photography and thank you for this blog. Your great fortune at finding these two eagles is our great fortune too. I will return to this post again and again. (As I scrolled I was fearful that the pair had fallen through the ice. Interesting choice for a nuptial bed)
I appreciate your kind comment very much Melanie.
Thanks so much for the evidence that life is proceeding apace– my hope
is that this human epidemic will provide some relief for the rest of the natural
world, starting with fewer internal combustion engine emissions—only
temporary, probably, but helpful for the little “eaglets to come”……
Temporary is better than not at all, Kris!
There are lots of bald eagles in Wisconsin but I’ve never seen this. Thanks for the series.
And the bit about the large animal falling through the ice really hits home to me. Folks here take its stability for granted far longer than I would, having lived farther south in Illinois where the ice is pretty treacherous. I am always nervous when traversing it.
Pam, ice fishermen and others do the same thing here – they go out on ice much thinner than I’d ever dare to. That ice gets very thin close to shore.
Pam and Ron, I actually know folks who race cars on ice during the winter!! Not something I’d do, but then I’d hate the falling through thin ice thing a LOT 😉
Surprising that the magpie remained there so long. ‘Nosy’ fella. 🙂 Well with all the ‘doom & gloom’ we are peppered with, this is a bit of joy to start the day. I can see why you say documentary quality…what a distance!
Nosey fella indeed. But then I should talk, after all I had a long lens pointed at them!
Yeah, they were far off but I’m sure glad I didn’t just ignore them which was originally my inclination.
Congratulations seem in order all around. A great morning for the Eagles, a great morning for you, and a fascinating series for us readers. I would’ve never expected to see something quite that singular. Even the magpie appears to agree. I enjoyed your comments, too! Bravo…
Thanks, Alison. It was a lot of fun watching this behavior through my viewfinder and even more fun discovering what I’d captured after I got home and looked at my photos more carefully.