When you’re photographing ducks on the water it’s nice to be able to just raise your lens a few degrees and take photos of a marauding Bald Eagle.
1/5000, f/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Three days ago while photographing ducks on one of several ponds I frequent this adult Bald Eagle showed up unexpectedly. ‘He’ was obviously looking to ambush one of the ducks or coots on the pond below him.
1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
He circled low over the pond three times in search of some vulnerability amongst the many ducks and coots on the pond.
1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
This photo and the previous one are consecutive shots in a burst. I’m including them both because in each of them he gave me a nice head turn with great eye contact.
1/5000, f/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
On one pass when he circled a little lower the sky background had a slightly funky color that may or may not have been caused by a color shift in my camera. Naturally it happened with one of my favorite flight postures of the series. If it is a color shift it would be easy to correct but for this presentation I’ve left it as it came out of the camera.
1/4000, f/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
After three passes he hadn’t spotted any vulnerability amongst the highly alert ducks below him so he disappeared to the south and all the waterfowl returned to their normal behaviors.
I’m closing with this photo because out of a couple of dozen sharp shots I got of him it’s one of the few that includes even a hint of anything in the background other than blue sky – there’s a few out of focus trees at lower right to provide at least some context. Blog followers know that homogenous blue skies aren’t at the top of my list of favorite backgrounds. I don’t dislike them particularly, they just aren’t my favorite.
But homogenous blue sky backgrounds or not how could I resist posting sharp flight shots of a serendipitous adult Bald Eagle.
Ron
Some coincidences:
1) We just saw two Bald Eagles out our front window. Hopefully, these are the pair that have nested nearby for several years. I was getting concerned that they might not come this year.
2) We were out on a bird survey this morning and a Bald Eagle swooped down on a flock of Dunlins. Didn’t nab a Dunlin but he flew off with something, perhaps a beached crab. Consolation prize or trying to save face, since his mate was watching.
3) In reference to EC’s family, one of the birders I was out with this morning was wishing he was visiting his son in warm Australia.
4) And to top it off you have posted some tack sharp photos for us all to marvel at.
No need for anyone to go all the way to the land of Oz to find warmth, Lyle. This afternoon it was so warm here you’d think it was late April or early May. It’s scary as hell since we still haven’t had any significant snow this winter.
That first shot with the wall-to-wall wings is stunning! And the succeeding shots are pretty darn special too. I love all the wonderful flight postures you’ve included today. Wow!
Thank you, Marty.
As am I (today in fact though it is the 18th) here. As is my partner, one of my brothers, three of my nephews…
Happy birthday to us all.
Holy moly, EC. A lot of your family must get an extra dose of spring fever every April… 🙂
Oops, I just remembered that in your neck of the woods April is in the fall. But still…
Thank you.
You were happy. We are happy. The ducks are happy that ‘he’ left without breakfast.
Two out of three is pretty good these days. Though I do hope that the eagle found breakfast a little later….
EC, he’s been hanging around that pond for quite a while now so I suspect it’s supplying him plenty of ducks.
Another beautiful Bald Eagle and a great series, Ron. I even like that color-shifted background in your preferred image, but my favorite is the last one, where I get a real sense of the speed and power in those wings, and a great look at all his Baldie features, including those chonky feet! 😎
Chonky feet – I like that, Chris. Thanks.
The shot with the “slightly funky color” is my favorite of the series. Very crisp image and more interesting flight posture, as you note.
I have a good memory (but no photos) of watching a bald Eagle hunt for ducks – probably coots – on one of our coastal lakes in Oregon. I’m sure others have witnessed similar encounters. The eagle was on shore at the top of a tall tree, staring intently at a little group of ducks right below. He’d launch and swoop down to snag a duck, and the ducks would calmly (so it seemed) dive under water out of reach. As soon as the eagle headed back to perch, the group of ducks would pop back to the surface and continue their conversation. We watched this “interaction” for almost an hour until the eagle finally flew away. An ignoble moment for our National Bird.
Kathryn, I once watched an adult Bald Eagle swoop in and steal a duck from a hapless Prairie Falcon – an even more ignoble moment for our national bird.
Wonderful photos, so nice to see bald eagles visiting our urban ponds again. As Mia says, Life is Good, I will alter the saying a bit, Life Can be Good.
Thank you, April.
Ron, I love the pictures and thought I would share a small part of my life. In 1983, the second of a 22 year career in the U.S. Navy, I got a tattoo. After thinking about if for a while, I chose a Bald Eagle, because at that time, as everyone knows, our national symbol was very much threatened and I thought what a better way to honor it than giving some real estate up on my left arm. Now, fast forward a few years, I live in the northwest where I see or hear eagles nearly daily. We have been captivated by this magnificent bird, to the point that we now plan day trips to go to a near by river and photograph the migrating and resident eagles as they feast on spawning salmon. I have so enjoyed seeing these birds and the comeback they have made, so much so that I now support a animal rescue organization that often rehabilitates and treats sick or injured raptors of all types. I would close by saying that it is amazing to me how we can become so inspired by nature. I wish more people would become inspired.
Neat story, David. Thanks for telling it. I wish for the same thing you do.
Absolutely INCREDIBLE series Ron, thanks for sharing!!!
Charlotte Norton
Thank you, Charlotte.
OMG, Ron – today I turned 75 (3/4 of a century old!!!) & I get to see a spectacular series by you of my absolute favorite Raptor!! Thank you, Thank you!! I also need to tell you about a photo one of my Eagleholics friends shared with us when I first started following the Berry College Eagle nest. I learned early on that Ma Berry LOVED Coots, especially there feet!! At that time I had no idea what a Coot looked like. After seeing Gena’s photo, I knew what Coots looked like because her photo showed Ma Berry flying very low over a huge group of Coots trying to get away.
Looks like I had good timing today, Jo Ann. A very Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday my fellow eagle lover & I’m also a January baby 😍
Not one but 5 shots of my favorite ❤️ I mentioned a Bald eagle yesterday and tada ❗️The first one is so impressive…. look at that wing span 😃
Happy Sunday
Diana, I wish you’d mentioned an Ivory-billed Woodpecker today. Maybe “tada” would happen again! 🙂
Fabulous Bird! Fabulous Photos!! Thank you for bringing the majesty of this Bald Eagle to my laptop on this chilly Sunday morning. I am smiling!
Good! Smiles this early in the morning can be hard to come by. Thanks, Melanie.
These are beauties Ron. I don’t mind the color shift, whatever the cause, real or camera issue. I could see that it would be unwelcome if you were trying to present them as a series such as a triptych.You make flight shots “look” easy, I know it isn’t of course.
Thank you, Gary. My camera gear performed unusually well with this series. I was only using a single active focus point but virtually all of my photos were sharp even when the eagle was near the edge of the frame. When that focus point locked on it really locked on. I wish it would do that all of the time.
WOW! Wonderful series of the eagle, Ron! 😍 Glad it cooperated! Probably just something I’ve never noticed before but the appearance of a bit of a hollow in front of the cere caught my attention??? Yeh, camera can be annoying at time deciding something like the background color should change between shots.
Judy, last night I wondered if his beak was a little unusual but when I cropped in on several photos I think what we’re seeing is the last of the dark color on his bill as he matures into a full adult. Either that or it’s some staining on the bill but I think the bill is normal.
Great shots of one of our marauding eagles. All really good of course, but I think I like the last two best. I think when the lakes are frozen or mostly frozen and the eagles can’t fish, the coots and ducks become their next choice.
Thanks, Everett. On some recent days this pond has been mostly frozen with thin ice on top but on this afternoon the pond was mostly open water.