Golden Eagle in Flight Series

[Wazukie]

As always great shots Dick.  I'm out at Long Beach at the moment and the weather IS NOT cooperating.  We were going to walk the refuge at the north end but it was pouring down rain.    We'll see what happens in the morning I guess.  Again nice series.

[TrkyBob53]

grandparichard, after reading your posts about the eagles, lets see if I have this right.  The bald eagle is bigger than the golden.  I have an ongoing discussion with a friend, him saying that the golden is bigger.  I have looked at two different sources, and they both are total opposite.  One source is a NatGeo bird book, and the other was a NatGeo search on the internet.  We have a lot of eagles here in the valley duriing calfing season,  and I am assuming the big brown eagles must be immature balds.

[wilsongideon]

Seriously nice pictures Dick!! Picture taking takes some serious time and energy, Nice when it pays off with some high quality shots like these.

[Widgeondeke]

I think I see a mallard wing in the last pic of your original post. Was the eagle hunting ducks?  Very nive pics and thanks for sharing.

[grandpawrichard]

I think I see a mallard wing in the last pic of your original post. Was the eagle hunting ducks?  Very nive pics and thanks for sharing.

There was a Mallard Flying around! I never noticed it until I got to editing the photos. I didn't crop the photo enough to get rid of the wing. I was so intent on the Eagle I didn't see the duck in the lens.

Dick

[Smokepole]

Great pics GPR.  I like the fact that you aren't just snapping shots, but enjoying your subjects and appreciating them.  I especially like that you bring good stuff like this to the forum, so we can all enjoy it.  Thanks for posting the info on eagles.  From a distance I usually assume big brown birds are immature balds or turkey vultures.  I'll look close from now on!

[grandpawrichard]

Thanks for the very kind words Kevin!

Eagles are my absolute Favorite Birds, so I have a real passion for trying to take "The Perfect Photo" of them. I so love to watch them and I always marvel in their grace of flight for such a huge bird.

One day my wife and I were out on Samish Island watching the Eagles and I was trying to take photos of them. We parked the car 2 Power poles away from a fully mature Bald Eagle. I really wanted to get as close as I could so that I could take just a Head Shot of him. I kept edging towards the pole he was on a few steps at a time, camera to my face. Every few steps I would snap a photo of him.

He let me get to within 20 feet from the bottom of his pole before he got tired of me and my game. He dove off the pole to take flight. Well, he dove off on my side of the pole. As you know, they drop quite a distance in height befor their wings catch enough wind to provide lift for them.

There I was, camera to my face, 400 mm lens on the camera, finger held down on the shutter release, camera going click, click, click. When that Eagle flapped his wings for the first time he was ONLY 1 Foot Above my head! My hat actually blew off of my head and my bald head felt the wind from those HUGE Wings! 

Sadly none of the photos turned out because the camera couldn't keep him in focus due to his speed coming at me and the distance of focus for my 400 mm lens is over 11 feet. But it was an Experience I will remember All of my life! I did get one photo that half way turned out, it is of this HUGE Blackish wing!

When the Eagle went over my head he swooped up, gained height and landed on the power pole right at the side of my car where my wife was sitting. She was so excited when I got back to our car! She told me that she wished she would have had a camera in her hands as that eagle went over my head and flew towards her! Then she asked me why I didn't duck as that eagle went over my head! She said she figured he was going to drop his talons and take a piece of me with him to eat! 

Now when we go out taking photos, my wife carries a point and shoot camera with her and she also wants to use my camera to shoot some photos. One of these days I'll talk her into letting me buy a Canon 7D camera and then she can have my Canon 40D!

Dick

[Smokepole]

 

[Decker]

Nice series Dick! I LOVE Golden Eagles, wished I could get one on film.

[jyerxa]

What a cool story Dick. I think some photos are only meant for our memories to ever see again.

[jyerxa]

Hey Dick,

I had such a good time on this thread discussing eagles and seeing the photos you took, I just thought of this thread when I got an email this morning with this link. This is a live real time link into an eagle nest with 3 chicks. I watched the mama feeding them this morning. She is nesting the chicks at this moment. But this is live streaming of a nest. Thought you would enjoy.

http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/index.html

[grandpawrichard]

Thanks for the link my Friend! I now have it bookmarked! I have also sent it on to all of my family!

Dick

[PlateauNDN]

Thanks for sharing the photos.  It would have been even sweeter if he was going in for a kill!

[boneaddict]

Somehow I missed this one.  Way to stay on him.  I KNOW how hard that is.  COOL!

[saylean]

Love raptors. Fine work Gparichard. I love watching the ducks go nuts when the bald eagles dive bomb em on the lake here.