![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/golden-eagle-1124-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"golden-eagle-1124-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nPlus yesterday I got a single photo of the rarest bird I’ve ever photographed.<\/p>\n
Yesterday morning I noticed a cluster of ravens and magpies circling over an area on the ground that I couldn’t see because of the high and steep road bank on my immediate left. I figured they might be circling over something dead and that was pretty much confirmed when a Golden Eagle rose up from the same spot on the ground to where I could finally see it.<\/p>\n
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1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n The eagle landed on a nearby small, old and decrepit utility pole but he had a devil of a time staying up there, which made for quite a few interesting photos. The pole had a single insulator, right on top, that was too small for ‘him’ to get both feet on so he had to put one foot on the insulator and\/or wire and the other foot on the top of the pole – an awkward position to be sure.<\/p>\n Time and time again he lost his balance which required him to use his wings in order to stay on the pole. I think this photo is excellent to show both the huge wingspan of the Golden Eagle and their very large surface area. I’m sure the flared alula that we see on his left wing is at least as large as some of the songbirds I photograph.<\/p>\n In some of my other photos I could see large clumps of light-colored mammal fur stuck to the bottoms of both of his feet, which makes me think that the critter the birds were feeding on was a rabbit, likely killed by the eagle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Whenever I visit this general location I try to make it a point to arrive just before sunrise. There’s a pond on the east side of the road that typically has mixed groups of waterfowl on it – yesterday it was ducks, geese and a few swans. On that side of the road the birds are always backlit while they’re on the pond but some or all of them usually take off as I approach.<\/p>\n Some day I hope to get lucky with photos of ducks, geese and\/or swans in flight and in silhouette with the upper portion of the sun rising over the mountains in the background.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/5000, f\/5.6, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n But it didn’t happen yesterday. This wasn’t the photo I was trying to get because we can’t see the top of the sun’s orb peeking over the mountains to the east. When this shot was taken the upper portion of the rising sun was out of frame to the right, but it does give you an idea of what I was trying to do.<\/p>\n However, a couple of seconds later I managed to get a single photo of the most unusual bird I’ve ever had in my viewfinder – the highly elusive and…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/8000, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n extremely odd Four-winged Duck.\u00a0The rarest bird I’ve ever photographed.<\/p>\n Happy Valentine’s Day. Or is it April Fool’s Day?<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ducks-in-silhouette-0389-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"ducks-in-silhouette-0389-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/four-winged-duck-0358-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"four-winged-duck-0358-ron-dudley\\"")
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