Maybe the most expensive bird of any species I’ve ever photographed.
A little over a week ago I was driving south on this road (from top to bottom in this photo – the opposite direction my pickup is pointed) when I spotted what I believed to be a Golden Eagle on a post approximately at the spot I’ve marked with a blue X. It was close to the road and in good light but it was on the wrong side of the road for photography so the only thing I could do was pass it, turn around and go back for it.
I know from experience that raptors in particular don’t like it when you turn around for them – they’ll often stay on their perch the first time you pass them but if they see you turn around and come back for them they’ll very often take off before you get there. So I drove quite a way down the road before I turned around. I chose to turn around at this gate, where I had a little more room for the maneuver in my long pickup truck. The road is narrower than it looks.
I was in a hurry of course and when I backed up into the turnoff at the heavy 8″ x 8″ wooden gate posts in the photo I heard an ominous “crunch”. I’d backed up into one of those big posts but I was barely moving and my pickup has a sturdy bumper so I figured there was no damage to my pickup. After I turned around I drove back to where the eagle was perched but by the time I got there it was gone.
It was at that point that I got out of my pickup to check it for any damage, which I didn’t expect to find.
I was quite surprised to see that I’d broken my taillight (in this photo, taken later, I’ve temporarily patched the worst of the cracks at lower left with transparent tape) and I knew that was going to be a big deal. In the ‘old days’ replacing a taillight was a relatively minor, cheap and easy operation but modern taillights are LED and contained within a modular housing, so I immediately knew I’d made an expensive mistake.
The next day I visited my Ford dealer and discovered that a new taillight housing was going to cost me over $500, installed. I plan on getting it fixed next week.
To pour salt on the wound, a few minutes after the taillight incident I found the eagle again and discovered that I’d misidentified it.
It wasn’t a Golden Eagle, instead it was an immature Bald Eagle and this time it was on the east side of the road where it was mostly back lit so my photos of it were mediocre at best.
For financial reasons, the timing of the expensive broken taillight couldn’t have been worse.
For months I’ve been planning on giving myself an early Christmas present by paying off my pickup just before Christmas. I can’t even remember the last time I haven’t had a monthly pickup payment and I really wanted to get out from under them. Because of the unexpected expense of the broken taillight, I thought about it for an extra day or two but in the end, on the day after Christmas, I paid that sucker off!
Financially, I feel like a new man and probably will until next week when I have to cough up another 500 bucks for that new taillight.
Ron
Notes:
- My pickup has a “Reverse Sensing System” that usually gives me an audible warning when I’m backing up too close to an object. But while I was backing up I had my steering wheel cranked all the way, which meant that my taillight was approaching the wooden post mostly from the side. So the alarm didn’t go off.
- This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. 16 years ago I spotted a Mink at Farmington Bay WMA. In the excitement of such an unusual sighting, and in my hurry to maneuver my vehicle so I could photograph it, I backed my vehicle into a metal post at one of the boat ramps, causing significant body damage – much worse than just a broken taillight. If you aren’t paying attention, nature photography can be expensive.
- Recently, some color-blind readers have told me that when I mark something with a red “x” in my photos, they have difficulty seeing/reading it. So this time I used a blue “x”, which they say is easier for them to see. See, this old dog CAN learn new tricks. Now if I can just learn not to back up into things.
Congratulations! 🍾🥂
Crap! 🤬 😱
And nerts! 🫤🦤
At least he’s a good looking juvenile. Hopefully, you’ll again have him in your viewfinder (sans car gymnastics) once he’s in his full adult plumage glory.
Ya, most of us have been there, done that too. Too bad it wasn’t a golden eagle coin that you had found – those now go for $2700 and would have paid for the light.
Kent, I’ll take two of those coins! You know, for the next time…
So sorry for your loss(es)—expensive taillight and not-a-Golden. 🙁
But congrats on the pay-off, maybe the car payment matches the light replacement so it won’t be quite so painful?
And BTW, I think that juvie Bald is quite adorable, even if slightly backlit. Not sure why, they always look kinda grumpy to me in that perched position, and it makes me smile! 😊
Glad you like the eagle, Chris. Sure wish I had better light on it.
Big Ouch. I am glad it was only financial expense though. Unpleasant but easier to bear.
We usually take a financial hit at Christmas. This year is was a small flood. The inlet valve to our loo failed. Of course when we couldn’t buy another. So we turned the water off and resolved to deal with it in the morning. The tap that turned the water off also failed. Overnight the loo over ran, flooded the floor, and a portion of carpet outside the loo. And the first inlet valve we purchased was a dud. Hiss and spit.
“the first inlet valve we purchased was a dud.”
EC, given my last name, I won’t take that personally… 🙂
Yeah, I know about expenses coming in a bunch. In the last few days, in addition to paying off my pickup and breaking my taillight, I had to make my annual car insurance payment, which isn’t cheap.
So sorry about your plumbing fiasco!
Oops. The pun on your name hadn’t even occurred to me.
Just joshing you, EC.
I am so sorry! While turning around, I backed into a metal three foot cement filled post painted dark brown and buried in a bush. Not while doing photography but in a tight Salt Lake parking lot. It took a quarter size chunk out of my driver side back light. I was going to get it replaced but two weeks later a woman hit my parked car in Smith’s parking lot and took the whole light out along with my bumper and quarter panel. Her insurance paid for the repair of my car. I only had it back a couple of days, it was in for a battery at Pep Boys and they backed it into another car hitting the same area breaking the light, damaging the bumper and quarter panel again. That was a challenge to get them to pay for the repair, I am so glad a I have dash cams or else I think they would not have paid. From the repair invoice the first light was $400 the second $600. Same body shop. When I asked about the difference they said they had to get it at a different supplier. It was what was available, my car is a 2007, might be harder for parts?
Don’t break a windshield with a rock chip, they new vehicle’s windshields are now about $2000 and the replacement will really cost you in the long run with increased insurance premiums. It’s almost smarter to pay that one out of pocket.
April, I remember your run of bad luck with your car.
And you’re right about insurance premiums. They get you coming and going, and in-between.
Congratulations on paying off your truck. Debt is a drag. Great present to yourself.
Happy New Year – stay safe.
“Debt is a drag.”
Indeed it is. Thanks, Nina.
Ron, here’s your tail light assembly on line for $130 and less if you look on Amazon. https://www.carparts.com/details/Ford/F-150/Replacement/Tail_Light/2020/RF73010049.html?TID=bngpla&origin=%7Badtype%7D&msclkid=2ebbfad8b8f11d03a9d99da889e304a3&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=BPM%20-%20PL1%20-%20Top%2010%20Campaigns&utm_term=2325673251796224&utm_content=BPM%20-%20PL1%20-%20Top%2010%20-%20Replacement%20-%20Tail%20Light&gclid=2ebbfad8b8f11d03a9d99da889e304a3&gclsrc=3p.ds
Gary, I’ve been researching some of those replacements from Amazon and elsewhere but I’ve heard horror stories about parts that aren’t OEM, so I’m a little hesitant. Still thinking about it…
I find (looking back over the years) that most of my “minor” incidents have been backing up. I wish I had a rear view camera, but my 2013 Toyota 4Runner didn’t come with one. Maybe both of us should look into one of those blue tooth license plate cams ??
Happy New Year Ron !!!
Gary, my pickup actually has a factory rear view camera (it’s a completely separate system from the audible alarm). But the morning sun was glaring off the screen so I couldn’t see what was on the screen. I knew those posts were back there, I just didn’t know how close and in all the excitement (you know me and Golden Eagles) I wasn’t being as careful as I should have been.
All of the words I am thinking are those that I hesitate to use in a post on your blog, so I’ll just say I’m sorry that happened and leave it there. However, considering the plethora of serious issues whirling around the world today, your accident isn’t the worst thing I’ve read about lately. Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Happy New Year with love!
Thanks for commiserating, Sue. Yep, everything in perspective.
OUCH! Shit happens and the newer the vehicle the more $$$$ are involved. Tailgates can present a challenge as will how a hood is configured – my ’09 Honda CRV is awful that way.
Congrats on getting it paid off tho! Always good not to “owe” on something. 🙂
Cheap amusement yesterday when a medium sized hawk appeared while the finches were feeding. They too off and swirled about it off and on – hawk was NOT amused….. 😉
Thanks, Judy. My monthly payment wasn’t small so it’ll be a very nice change for me. Not paying interest will be a significant part of it.
Ron, Sorry to hear about the tail light. This can be fixed! On a thin tipped paint brush use carbontetrachloride (a clear liquid, which is used to clean rollers on copy machines and typewriters) and touch the cracks of your light with it. It will run into the cracks and fuse the plastics back together.
Thanks for the suggestion, Rich. I’ll look into it. I’ve been seeing other suggestions using other substances too.
Congratulations on paying off your truck, Ron. It is hard on these big trucks to see things up close. I recently bought a new/used 2021 Toyota Tundra, and it takes me many attempts to park it between the lines of a parking lot. All the sensors help, but when I can not see everything around me, I will have an event like this happen sooner or later.
Interesting eagle and great photo. I learned something. I would have mistakenly identified it as a GOEA. I guess the bill color is one of the main keys?
Thanks, Ed. The tail gate really interferes with vision when you’re backing up. I hope your “event” is later, much later, rather than sooner.
Yes, bill color is key.
Pain in the …! Sorry ’bout that!
I hope you have a wonderful new year filled with many fine feathered photographs! Thanks for sharing your exploits!
Thanks, Joanne. Pain in the ass, and in the pocketbook.
Congrats on paying off that debt. Owning something outright is a good feeling.
As for the taillight, I guess it is one of those live and learn moments. Still, the modular assembly of vehicles and the nutty cost of replacement parts is an insult. Repairs and replacements through a brand dealership can feel like a mugging. If you have the time and the will there might be used parts available, and a independent shop willing to install for less.
Best wishes for a 2025 free of such things.
Michael, some Ford pickup taillights have sensors in them that make them even more expensive – nearly $1500 for a single taillight housing! It’s nuts.
A Golden moment turns into an Immature moment and costs you
$500 bucks. Happy New Year 🙂
Same to you, Everett.
Well played, Everett, well played! 😂