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- The original photos were processed quickly and poorly so I wanted to reprocess them and get the new versions “out there”.<\/em><\/li>\n
- The original post was published long enough ago that many current followers of Feathered Photography have never seen it.<\/em><\/li>\n
- I took the photos five years ago today so it’s the anniversary of perhaps the most amazing display of powered flight I’ve ever seen from a bird.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/golden-eagle-3304b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"golden-eagle-3304b-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n1\/1250, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n
Yesterday morning in Box Elder County I had been photographing this immature Golden Eagle on top of a cliff when ‘he’ suddenly flew down at a very steep angle and landed in the grasses far below. He had probably dived on prey but if so he came up empty. He was a long distance from me and buried in the grasses so when it looked like he wasn\u2019t going anywhere anytime soon I stowed my gear and began to drive down the road to look for other birds.<\/p>\n
But wouldn\u2019t you know, he chose that moment while I was driving to take off and fly back to the top of the cliff (it\u2019s a cross between a cliff and a small mountain, I\u2019ll call it a cliff). In this image the cliff is out of frame to the upper right and from this starting point it\u2019s an extremely steep angle for a bird this size (up to 10 lbs and a 7 1\/2\u2032 wingspan) to fly directly up to the top of it without circling around to gain altitude first.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t even consider the possibility that he would attempt to make a beeline to the top of the cliff from this spot almost directly below it.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/golden-eagle-3309-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"golden-eagle-3309-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n1\/1250, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n
But he not only attempted it, he actually did it.<\/p>\n
By the time I stopped my pickup and got my lens on him again he was already half way up the mountain. Partly because of the unexpectedly steep angle I had a difficult time getting him in focus and keeping him in frame so most of my photos were either too soft or clipped or both. This is the best one I got to demonstrate the steepness of the climb (no, I didn\u2019t rotate the image to make it look even steeper than it was).<\/p>\n
His goal was to land on a small outcrop near the top of the cliff.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/golden-eagle-3317-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"golden-eagle-3317-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nHere he’s approaching that outcrop on the right.<\/p>\n
I love this landing posture for many reasons, including those huge, outstretched feet and talons and the tail spread at an angle to show us the beautiful white markings of a young Golden Eagle..<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/golden-eagle-3319-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"golden-eagle-3319-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender,\u00a0 not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n
Two frames later he’d touched down.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/golden-eagle-33320-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"golden-eagle-3320-ron-dudle\\"")
<\/p>\n1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n
And in the next photo he’s beginning to settle in on the outcrop. The eagle has landed.<\/p>\n
For me it was a jaw-dropping experience to watch the power of this huge bird as he climbed at such a steep angle to reach the outcrop. That angle would be one thing if he’d had time to build up more speed for the climb, but he didn\u2019t. He’d been much too close to the base of the cliff when he started for that. So the power of his ascent was simply amazing to watch.<\/p>\n
And to climax it all with such a dramatic pre-landing posture that I actually captured in photos was almost a perfect ending for this bird photographer. Normally I’d screw it up.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I didn’t think such a huge bird could do something like this. But it did.<\/p>\n
- The original post was published long enough ago that many current followers of Feathered Photography have never seen it.<\/em><\/li>\n
- The original photos were processed quickly and poorly so I wanted to reprocess them and get the new versions “out there”.<\/em><\/li>\n