This time with something in the background other than plain blue sky.
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
I photographed this adult Bald Eagle just over a week ago as ‘he’ was hunting ducks at a local pond. Three days later I posted several photos of him in flight and lamented the plain blue sky background in most of them. Everything else being equal I prefer to have non-homogenous backgrounds in my photos.
I hadn’t included this photo of the same eagle in my earlier post because the tip of his right wing is so close to the bottom of the frame which isn’t an ideal placement of the bird. But when I actually processed the shot and looked at the finished product I decided that minor imperfection was more than compensated for by the out of focus trees in the bottom half of the frame. I think they provide welcome context to the photo and help to ‘ground’ the eagle without distracting the viewer from the subject at hand.
Besides I like the photo quite a lot for other reasons too, including some insights it provides into the developmental stages of Bald Eagles. We can see remnants of the bird’s recent immature or sub-adult status including the traces of dark color still present on the side of his otherwise yellow bill and the single mottled white secondary feather remaining on his right wing.
Raptor authority Jerry Liquori puts it this way: “Since individual eagles molt at slightly different rates, the plumage of older birds may not always correlate with their age in years”.
Ron
Late night post… a perfect way to end my evening ❤️
Good. Thanks, Diana.
https://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/hotspots/115-farmington-bay-wildlife-management-area-farmington-utah
Hi Ron,
Not sure if this link will work. Nice article in Birdwatching magazine about Farmington Bay. Hope it doesn’t increase the human flock too much.
Kathryn
I hope so too, Kathryn. It’s already a zoo out there much of the time.
WHAT a beauty. And no, not too low in the frame at all for me – at least in part because it reminded me just how easy it would have been to clip that wing.
Patty will love this shot.
Thanks, EC. I hope Patty gets to see it. As I’m sure you know she’s having a rough time of it these days.
It is lovely, I don’t think it is too low, they head is in the right spot for the eyes to flow over the photos smoothy.
Thanks, April. I wish I had just a little more room down there but in the end I decided it’s no big deal.
I love the cheeky way the eagle made his 4th primary flirt with the edge of your frame. 😉 And it looks like there’s a secondary that is almost fully grown out in that same wing (although it may just be the angle).
Thank you for mentioning Jerry Liguori. I think of him often and wonder how he’s doing. A few months ago I found a 2-part podcast from the spring. He’s still as fascinating as ever! Here’s a link to part 1 if anyone’s interested (the link to part 2 is in the description: https://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/bwdsite/podcast-episode/otwtb-episode-69-jerry-liguori-raptor-man-part-1/
Thanks for that link, Marty. I listened to that podcast some time ago. I ask about how Jerry’s doing every time I go to HawkWatch International headquarters but because of Covid it’s been quite a while. The news can’t be good I’m afraid.
eBird lists 2,793,843 Bald Eagle observations, so I guess you could call it a common bird, now that hunting and DDT are outlawed. Having said that, your photos still capture their uncommon majesty. I guess I have to agree with you about backgrounds. Sort of. Here in Washington it’s hard not to appreciate a big blue-sky day.
Lyle, I love blue skies. And I don’t dislike them in my photos. They just aren’t my favorite background when there’s nothing other than blue sky back there.
Excellent! I never tire of looking at eagles. We are quite fortunate here…I live about a mile from the Fox River which has a paper mill along side it so certain areas of the river has open water just about year round. Right now we have a good dozen plus staying in the area. It is common to see multiples in the large cottonwoods along the river roosting and flying out over the waters ‘fishing’. For some they are ‘common-place’ and don’t even bother to look but you can always tell who has a camera in their car!
I’m jealous of you living so close to that many eagles, Kathy.
Nice! Beak caught my eye again – glad it’s just the maturing process…… 😀
I’m pretty sure that’s all it is, Judy.
Excellent photo as always. I really struggle getting shots of our eagles in full frame like this. I have gotten some really good ones, but the misses far outweigh the perfect ones.
No politics, but just remember that regardless of who our leader is good or not so good, what the eagle symbolizes never changes. Congress gave the job of creating our Official Seal to Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin. Charles Thomas Secretary of Congress working with a number of committees finally came up with a design that included the bald eagle that was approved by all.
The eagle has been a symbol of strength and courage since ancient times and was used by Roman legions as their symbol.
Ron, I think your photo of the in-flight eagle with the outstretched talons is one of the best I have ever seen.
Thanks, Everett.
Good morning, Early Bird! Nice way to start the day, this young Bald Eagle. They have been reintroduced to our part of the Connecticut River Valley, almost in Vermont. Hopeful for them and what they symbolize.
“Hopeful for them and what they symbolize.”
I am too Mary, especially the last part. I have hope in that arena for the first time in far too long.