![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/bald-eagle-9538b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"bald-eagle-9538b-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nJuvenile and subadult Bald Eagles aren’t as distinctively marked as adults so they often don’t garner the attention or even the respect they deserve from the general public. They’re often confused with Golden Eagles and even large hawks, in part because they lack the bright white head and tail of the adult.<\/p>\n
It’s been my intention to feature a juvenile or subadult Bald Eagle for a while now but unexpected events (the availability of “Mother Chukar” t-shirts and repairs to my pickup for example) kept pushing those plans to the back burner.<\/p>\n
Saturday morning seemed like a good time to finally get it done.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1\/2500, f\/8, ISO 500, Canon 40D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + EF 1.4 Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I photographed this juvenile\/subadult in flight at Farmington Bay WMA so long ago it seems like a different lifetime. The photo was taken on January 30, 2009 as the young bird circled adult eagles on the ice below. Squabbles and outright fights often break out when a newcomer lands amongst other eagles who have already established their position on the ice so the approach of this bird was slow and tentative which allowed me a series of relatively easy flight shots.<\/p>\n Plumages in young Bald Eagles are highly variable over the 4-5 years it takes them to become adults but several features of this bird suggest to me that it’s a first winter juvenile, including the following:<\/p>\n But aging juvenile and subadult Bald Eagles is tricky and I’m far from an expert on the subject so I’m open to the possibility that this might be a second winter subadult. In fact I’m really curious to know for sure so if any knowledgeable folks out there want to wade in I’d welcome it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Beyond the diagnostic features of this photo I just like it. Readers know that blue sky backgrounds in my flight shots aren’t my favorite but I think this photo has other strengths – the eagle is sharp, I have good ventral light and detail, there’s a catch light in the eye and that somewhat ratty-looking tail is an indicator of how difficult it is for eagles to make a living on Utah’s winter ice.<\/p>\n A “perfect” tail would have been fine but I’m a fan of reality in my bird photos.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s been my intention to feature a juvenile or subadult Bald Eagle for a while now but unexpected events kept pushing those plans to the back burner.<\/p>\n\n