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<\/p>\nThis post is all about abject failure and\u00a0mediocre (at best)\u00a0images.\u00a0 But it’s also about the incredible excitement\u00a0of bird photography.<\/p>\n
As a bird photographer I have several nemesis birds but the Golden Eagle has been at the top of that list for a very long time.\u00a0 I’ve had multiple opportunities with them but each time something has gone wrong that prevented me from getting really nice images\u00a0 I’ll admit that they have become a bit of an obsession.\u00a0\u00a0I’d rather succeed with them than I would with most any other\u00a0bird, including Snowy Owls.\u00a0 About the only species that might supersede the Golden Eagle on my “excellent shot wish list” might be the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.\u00a0 And I’m only kidding a little about that…<\/p>\n
So each time we head for Montana I’m on the lookout for Golden Eagles and I had two very good chances with them on this\u00a0last trip a couple of weeks ago.\u00a0\u00a0Here’s how it turned out…<\/p>\n
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Mia spotted this one on our left as I drove east toward “David’s Valley”.\u00a0 It was in a setting I like but it was too far away for quality perched shots and it was sidelit.\u00a0 I had to make a\u00a0split-second decision – stop where I was and go for low quality perched\u00a0images or continue forward before stopping\u00a0and gamble on take-off shots with a better light angle.\u00a0 I made the wrong decision and stopped where I was.<\/p>\n
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Almost immediately the eagle took off but it was a little too far away and I had no light in the face or eye (just look at the size of that right wing and it’s not even fully extended!).\u00a0 To make things worse, a second eagle that we hadn’t seen took off about the same time from nearby rocks.\u00a0 I got five other sharp shots of this bird right after take-off but they all had the same problems as this one.\u00a0 If I had continued forward before stopping and the bird had curled around after take-off like it\u00a0actually did we would both have had an excellent chance for closer flight shots of this\u00a0eagle in good light.<\/p>\n
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After the eagle curled around it flew right over the top of my pickup but it was still in poor light and it was too late in the morning for quality flight shots at this angle.\u00a0 To give you an idea how close it was, I’ve left this image uncropped – it’s full frame.<\/p>\n
I’ll never forget what Mia said\u00a0a while later as we drove back down the valley in dejection\u00a0and approached this same area, and I quote: “When we go past the spot where those eagles were I think I’m going to throw up”.\u00a0 I felt the same way.<\/p>\n
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Four days later we had another chance with Golden Eagles and I blew that opportunity too.\u00a0 Prepare yourself for a couple of crappy images to illustrate…<\/p>\n
I was driving north on I-15 in a rural area\u00a0to explore some new country when Mia again spotted two Golden Eagles feeding on road kill in the middle of another road running very close and parallel to the freeway.\u00a0 I took the next exit and came back on that road to see what turned up.\u00a0 The eagles were backlit on the road so I passed them to get better light which\u00a0forced the birds to fly.\u00a0 My intention was to hopefully get a few shots off and then to drag the raccoon carcass off the road so there’d be less chance that the eagles would be injured by\u00a0vehicles.<\/p>\n
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One eagle flew off to a power pole but the other landed much closer to the road on a fence post.\u00a0 In order to shoot out my window\u00a0I had to angle to the far side of the road which put me partially\u00a0in the wrong (illegal) lane but\u00a0I could see a long ways in each direction and there was no traffic so\u00a0I took a chance.\u00a0 But I never got any sharp shots of the perched bird as I’d left the engine running for a quick getaway and I really struggled shooting vertically\u00a0with the angle out the window and\u00a0spent more time watching for traffic and cops than I\u00a0did looking through the viewfinder.\u00a0 In\u00a051 years of driving I’ve only had two tickets – a speeding ticket in 1973 and one for “crossing the gore line” about 9 years ago.\u00a0 I had no interest in running my ticket number to 3 but dang I sure wanted some decent Golden Eagle shots…<\/p>\n
The only thing that makes me feel better about the abominable\u00a0image quality of this shot is the fact that there were ugly railroad tracks in the background.<\/p>\n
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Soon both eagles were on top of the power pole (there was actually a third eagle that flew off to some cliffs out of\u00a0frame to the left)\u00a0but again they were sidelit and besides I never got any really sharp shots of them.\u00a0 I’m not sure why – perhaps it was my running engine but if it was I haven’t had that much trouble with it before.<\/p>\n
I’ll bet some of you saw this coming – there I was straddled across the left lane on\u00a0a deserted road with my engine running and two huge lenses stuck out the window\u00a0when a\u00a0Highway Patrolman with lights flashing pulled up behind me.\u00a0 I believe he saw me from the freeway and turned around to nab me.\u00a0 Resigned to ticket #3 I put my\u00a0figurative tail between my legs and waited for the inevitable.\u00a0 But the officer let me off with a gentle lecture and verbal warning.<\/p>\n
Thank you\u00a0Trooper Mitch Voss.\u00a0 You were professional, courteous and even friendly and you gave me a much-appreciated break.\u00a0 And as I drove away, lesson learned, I had an even warmer feeling toward my home state of Montana than I usually do.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
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This post is all about abject failure and mediocre (at best) images. But it’s also about the incredible excitement of bird photography.<\/p>\n