![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/golden-eagle-3132-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"golden-eagle-3132-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nAny day I see\u00a0eight Golden Eagles is a good day for me. Some weren’t close, some were in poor light and others just didn’t cooperate but this one mostly came through for me. So yes, despite the rigors of a six hour drive with an aching\u00a0bad back,\u00a0some inexplicably soft shots, the lack of other birds and multiple dumbasses driving close behind me in the dark with their bright lights on –\u00a0yesterday was a good day.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1\/3200, f\/6.3, 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 This adult was perched on a power pole when it took off at a near-perfect angle for multiple takeoff and flight shots in warm, morning light. I was\u00a0able to get 33 photos during the process\u00a0but typical of my track record with Golden Eagles something went wrong\u00a0with most of them –\u00a0wires in the way, clipped body parts, wings obscuring the head, poor wing positions\u00a0etc.<\/p>\n This photo isn’t quite as sharp as the others below (I had to sharpen more\u00a0than I like to during processing)\u00a0but I\u00a0do like the peekaboo flight posture.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, 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 Since the sun was still low in the sky I was able to get good light and detail\u00a0on the entire bird which I find very difficult to do because this species is so large and dark. Of course the wings-up flight\u00a0posture helped in that regard…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/5000, f\/6.3, 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 as did this wings-down posture eight frames later as the eagle began to gain elevation.<\/p>\n I’m not a huge fan of featureless sky backgrounds but just the fact that this is my old nemesis species I can mostly overlook that in this situation. In my experience good light is more essential with\u00a0this species than any other I regularly photograph. I had several other potentially productive encounters with Golden Eagles later in the morning but by then the sun was higher in the sky and I’m not very happy with how most of those turned out.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n PS – As an afterthought I decided to include one more shot of this eagle taken very soon after takeoff. I butchered it by cutting off the wings but I think it’s interesting for a couple of reasons.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, 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 These two starlings didn’t even\u00a0flinch as the huge eagle lumbered by\u00a0very close to them as it took off. I’m shooting at an effective 1120 mm and at those focal lengths my depth of field is extremely shallow.\u00a0The starlings are sharp enough to tell me that\u00a0they’re\u00a0very close to the eagle, probably close enough to feel the huge bird’s wing turbulence, but they still didn’t budge\u00a0(they were\u00a0still on the wire in the next two shots in the burst). I’m sure they instinctively knew that the\u00a0eagle wouldn’t attempt an aggressive move toward them and even if it did they were fast and agile enough to easily\u00a0make their escape.<\/p>\n The image also demonstrates\u00a0how huge Golden Eagles are relative to starlings (and we can’t even see the eagle in its entirety). That’s something you’d expect from a bird that is 56 times heavier than a starling (4575 grams versus 82 grams) but I think it’s pretty dramatic\u00a0to\u00a0experience that difference visually in a single photo.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Any day I see eight Golden Eagles is a good day for me so yesterday was a very good day..<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/golden-eagle-3138-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"golden-eagle-3138-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/golden-eagle-3146-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"golden-eagle-3146-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/golden-eagle-3127-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"golden-eagle-3127-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n