{"id":41710,"date":"2016-08-25T05:42:10","date_gmt":"2016-08-25T11:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=41710"},"modified":"2016-08-25T05:42:10","modified_gmt":"2016-08-25T11:42:10","slug":"bald-eagles-and-the-good-old-days-at-farmington-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/25\/bald-eagles-and-the-good-old-days-at-farmington-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"Bald Eagles And The “Good Old Days” At Farmington Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

This morning I felt like reminiscing a little about the old days at Farmington Bay and the Bald Eagles there in winter. All of these images were taken in February of 2009.<\/p>\n

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1\/800, f\/11, ISO 500, Canon 40D,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Back then the refuge used to kill invasive carp which eagles learned to take advantage of while they wintered here in northern Utah. In 2009 some of those fish eventually washed down canals from relatively inaccessible areas of the refuge\u00a0and into some of the shallow ponds, providing a bounty for\u00a0eagles.<\/p>\n

Here a very young immature eagle and an adult are standing next to the mostly submerged carcass of a fish. The adult seemed to be guarding the fish and almost daring the youngster to make an attempt at it so the tension in the air was thick.<\/p>\n

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1\/2000, f\/8, ISO 500, Canon 40D,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

This interestingly-marked slightly older juvenile was striding through the shallow water with a definite goal in mind.<\/p>\n

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1\/2000, f\/8, ISO 500, Canon 40D,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

That goal was the remains of another carp. By this time many of the carcasses had been picked pretty clean.<\/p>\n

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1\/1000, f\/11, ISO 500, Canon 40D,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the time I was still a relatively inexperienced bird photographer and in all the excitement I sometimes didn’t have the presence of mind to remove my teleconverter when multiple birds were close. In this image the result was a cut off tail (the photo is full frame) but I still enjoy the image for its good look at eagles of three different ages and the fish head carried by the adult. The older bird wasn’t in the mood to share so…<\/p>\n

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1\/1250, f\/11, ISO 500, Canon 40D,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

it carried the head to a more isolated spot before attempting to find something edible on it.<\/p>\n

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1\/1600, f\/8, ISO 500, Canon 40D,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eagles being eagles there was often a lot of tension with so many birds vying for limited food. Here an adult guarding a fish\u00a0in its talons that we can’t see\u00a0is screaming a warning at a juvenile that approached too closely.<\/p>\n

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1\/2500, f\/8, ISO 500, Canon 40D,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fights often broke out even when they didn’t seem to be over fish.<\/p>\n

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1\/640, f\/11, ISO 500, Canon 40D,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

And sometimes those skirmishes were pretty intense. I sure wish I’d removed my teleconverter for many of those shots.<\/p>\n

Those more innocent days are over. In recent years several developments have altered the eagle situation at Farmington. Those developments include:<\/p>\n