{"id":81781,"date":"2020-02-16T06:13:17","date_gmt":"2020-02-16T13:13:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=81781"},"modified":"2020-02-16T11:35:12","modified_gmt":"2020-02-16T18:35:12","slug":"golden-eagle-sideways-takeoff-and-flight-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/16\/golden-eagle-sideways-takeoff-and-flight-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden Eagle Sideways Takeoff And Flight Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three days ago I had my most exciting encounter ever with a Golden Eagle along the approach road to Bear River MBR.<\/p>\n

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I was headed for home after an unproductive morning at the refuge when I spotted this Golden Eagle in a small tree directly in front of me and right next to the left side of the road. The eagle seemed so darned big I’m going to refer to her as a female although I don’t know that for sure. Female Golden Eagles have been known to weigh as much as 17 lbs and have a wingspan up to 7 ft 8 in (although most are smaller than that) and my lasting impression of this bird is that she was absolutely huge, especially when she took off and more than filled my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

As I was approaching her the light angle was poor and there were even more branches and twigs in front of her than this so I’m not including any of those photos. When I eventually had to drive by very close to her on my way home I fully expected her to spook and fly off. But when she didn’t I stopped on the left side of the road and photographed her from inside my pickup while she was in better light and had fewer twigs in front of her. This is one of those shots.<\/p>\n

I couldn’t believe how relaxed she was with her so low in the small tree and me so close. She sometimes kept her eye on me but she showed no other signs of nervousness – none at all.<\/p>\n

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But her relaxed demeanor instantly disappeared when a blue Subaru Impreza approached from the east and pulled off the south side of the road just a few feet behind me. Now she was tense and obviously nervous as she kept her eye glued on that little blue car. I hoped she would relax again after seeing that the car and its occupant weren’t an immediate threat but then the Subaru Guy made an unfortunate decision that made that impossible.<\/p>\n

He got out of his car to photograph the eagle with some kind of small camera (I’m not sure what it was, it could have been a point and shoot or landscape gear or some other kind of small camera and lens).<\/p>\n

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This was the eagle’s reaction when he got out of his car. I’m pretty sure she’d have vamoosed at this point if her right wing hadn’t hit that larger vertical branch right next to her but it did so for a few seconds she…<\/p>\n

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tolerated what she perceived as a potentially threatening humanoid moving around on foot nearby and momentarily folded her wings again. But her relatively relaxed demeanor didn’t last for long.<\/p>\n

At this point I don’t know what the Subaru Guy was doing (other than photographing the eagle with a small camera from outside his car) because he was behind me and I had my eye glued to my viewfinder. But whatever he was doing….<\/p>\n

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it spooked her so despite the difficulties presented to her wings by the twig and branch obstructions she decided to attempt takeoff. At this point she’d had more than enough of the Subaru Guy so close and outside his vehicle.<\/p>\n