![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/bald-eagle-2783-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"bald-eagle-2783-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nSometimes it pays to answer your phone, even when it awakens you from a much-needed nap.<\/p>\n
Yesterday\u00a0after spending hours on Antelope Island\u00a0in the\u00a0morning\u00a0looking for birds and two\u00a0afternoon trips down to the Jordan River to look for “my” kingfisher and getting bird-skunked on each occasion I was feeling pretty grumpy so I decided to take a nap\u00a0in an effort to\u00a0improve my disposition. I had just drifted off when the phone rang.\u00a0Stumbling to the phone I\u00a0realized it was the same time of day I typically get robocalls trying to sell me “vehicle maintenance packages” so by the time I answered I was wishing I’d just ignored it. I was downright grouchy when I\u00a0picked up.<\/p>\n
But it turns out it was my good friend and neighbor Mike Welch and almost the first words out of his mouth were “There’s an eagle in your tree!”. Mike had been working in his front yard stringing Christmas lights\u00a0and saw it fly in and land in my huge elm tree in my side yard (yes, the same tree that nearly destroyed my roof last winter).<\/p>\n
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1\/640, f\/7.1, ISO 640, 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 I grabbed my gear, including tripod, and walked across the street to get a better angle on the eagle and when I looked up it was still there high\u00a0above my house. By the time I got my lens on the bird it only gave me about five seconds for a few quick shots (and no time to adjust camera\u00a0settings or check exposure)…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/500, f\/7.1, ISO 640, 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 before it took off. The lighting was poor and the setting cluttered but I care less about the images than I do about just knowing there’s a Bald Eagle around in the middle of the city and it likes my tree!<\/p>\n There’s been an adult Bald Eagle that has occasionally visited my tree in January of\u00a0many recent winters (with the exception of last winter) so this visit\u00a0was very early and\u00a0highly unexpected. My tree is the tallest in the entire\u00a0neighborhood and I think it feels safe way up there. I’m not sure it’s the same eagle each year but I suspect it is. The Jordan River Parkway is nearby and this bird may like to hang around using my tree as a relatively safe refuge between fishing forays down at the parkway.<\/p>\n Thanks for the heads up, Mike. You have permission to interrupt my afternoon nap any old time!<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sometimes it pays to answer your phone, even when it awakens you from a much-needed nap.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/bald-eagle-2792b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"bald-eagle-2792b-ron-dudley\\"")
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