Testing

This is a test.  Hmmm, perhaps Blogger is now playing with Picasa again.  I shot this bald eagle this morning while on my way to the Earth Day celebration at Oscar Scherer State Park.  I drove around a corner and there he was, feasting on a roadkill armadillo.  I couldn't pull over fast enough, believe me.  I started shooting as soon as I got out of the car, but he flew off before I could get too close.  But then I noticed that there were two eagles feasting on the armadillo, and the second one didn't seem to pay me too much mind.  I was able to get within about thirty feet without spooking him, and even walk around to the side where the light was best.  With my long lens, I was able to get right up on him and crop out the road in the background.  Very, very cool.

Circle B Bar Eagles

Before I quit posting for the night and hit the hay, here are a couple of bald eagles at the Circle B Bar Preserve in Lakeland. They have at least two eagles nests there, and somehow I got shots of eagles flying out of both nests in the same day. Trust me, I didn't flush 'em, I was way too far away. They just happened to take off while I had the camera on them. You can't actually see the nest of the one above, I cropped it out of the picture so you could see the eagle a little better. I was much farther away from that one when I took the picture. The one below I at first mistook for an osprey, but that impression didn't take long to correct once I trained my lens on him. Then all of a sudden he took to the sky and left no doubt that he was something a lot bigger and badder than any old osprey.

Ol' Baldy

I spotted one of my local bald eagles on the cell tower across the street from work today. I'd been seeing him fly around for the past couple of days, often only a few feet above my head, but I never had my camera handy. Today, I saw him perched up high on this tower, so I had time to grab the camera and squeeze off a few shots. It's not much of a picture, but at least I got him.

Pershing

I think I just mentioned that I was shooting in Pershing Park, so here's a picture of old John J. himself.

This eagle was in the park, too.  I don't remember much about him, but looking close at the little plaque near the bottom of the picture tells me this is the Bex Eagle.

Where Eagles Soar

Perhaps the most popular decorative element in Washington, DC is the eagle. They are everywhere. These three are in front of Union Station, so they were among the first things I shot on my second day in town. Pretty impressive, except for all the bird poop. I'm sure there is someone in Washington who's job it is to clean the pigeon droppings off of stuff. That may not be his official title, but that's what he does. I'd even bet it's more than one somebody. Probably dozens of people. It's a large town.

I thought maybe I could find some more info about these eagles, but I can't find anything at the usual sources. Probably just another decorative element by an unknown craftsman.

Two Children

I drove past the local eagle nest two nights ago and spotted the two babies out in a good spot, much better than the last time I spotted them out of the nest together. So I stopped and shot some pictures for you. And to give you an idea of how far they were from home, below is a shot that shows the two eaglets on the left, and their nest on the right. Mommy and daddy were nowhere to be seen, unfortunately. I've also spotted these guys on the big cell tower across from work, which is several miles from their nest, so they're starting to get around. It won't be long before they head off North for the summer.

More Of The Same

Here are a few shots of the bald eagle nest at Robinson Preserve up in Bradenton, FL. I've shown you this nest and the eagle once before, and these shots really aren't any better than the earlier ones. I'd walked by the nest earlier in the evening when the light was much better, but there was no bird to be seen. Later, on the other side of the park, from the top of the observation tower, I looked back at the nest and saw that the eagle had landed (so to speak...). The shot above is the view from atop the tower.

So I hurried on down the trail and back to the closest approach to the nest. The shot above is one I took on the way. As you can see by the orange glow, it was getting pretty close to sundown and the park's closing time. I didn't want to get locked in!

This was shot from the end of the trail that's closest to the nest. And the eagle just happened to be sitting on a branch that made him almost disappear against the trunk of the tree. Oh, well, at least you can sorta see that he's looking straight at me. I think...

Another Nest

I guess I need to hang out with more photographers. While shooting the second owl nest, someone clued me in on a nearby eagle nest. So after leaving the owls, I went in search of the eagles. I found the nest quickly enough, but no birds were to be seen. I guess the young were large enough that they were out of the nest, though probably hanging out in a nearby tree, and the parents were off searching for food. So all you get is a picture of a giant nest. This thing is probably the size of a small car, and weighs almost as much. I've heard that some of them get to be the size of small SUVs!

Babies

I shot this group photo of the two local bald eagle babies this morning. It was grey and overcast all day, so the light is terrible, but you can get the idea. They're evidently flying just a bit, as this is not the same tree their nest is in. Pretty soon I'll be spotting them on local cell towers and what not as they gradually get used to those wings and start flying farther and farther at a time. And then they'll be gone when they migrate back up north. Or at least the parents will head back north for the summer. Do the young migrate with them, or do they decide to stay based on food supply, climate or whatever? Hmmm....

A Break From The Planes

On my way home tonight, I went past the local eagles nest. I noticed that I could see both white heads bobbing up in the tree, so I pulled off into the median. As I was putting the long lens on the camera, something caught my eye and I spotted one of the eagles flying past. I got off a couple of shots, but the camera wasn't fully adjusted yet, so I didn't get anything too great.

Then I walked over to the fence line and saw the other adult just sitting there, minding his own business. Then he disappeared.

A couple of minutes later, I see one or the other of the adults flying back with what looked like a fish in their talons.

I think this was my favorite shot of the whole series. I don't think I've ever shot this nest when it was this active. All I usually get is sedentary birds.

There's Mommy, hopping up onto a higher branch to watch her two young'uns eat. You have to look close to spot the babies in this shot, but they're there, right behind the base of that Y-shaped limb coming out towards the camera.

Once they were done eating, the babies became a little more active and I was able to actually see them. They certainly aren't small anymore. In fact, I think they're about the same size as the adults, they just still have their juvenile plumage.

Here's a nice little family portrait with Mommy (or Daddy) on the left and the two kids on the right.

I have no idea why these guys were so active. They just kept hopping around. This is when I wish I had about a 600mm lens and a nice tripod so I could get some really clear shots. These are sort of muddy, shot with a 70-200 f/2.8L and a 2x teleconverter. I couldn't resist using the teleconverter even though I knew it wouldn't give me very clear shots. I wanted to get as close as I could for these.

At last they quit hopping around and held still for a few minutes. From their size, these guys could start flying any day now.

And then for some reason, Mommy decided it was time to duck out.

I just happened to be shooting these at the right time as she leapt up and threaded between the tree limbs.

And off she flew towards the west. Notice how the two kids don't take their eyes off of her. At this point, I turned and started hurrying in the direction she was flying to get some aerial shots. I had to get out from behind a line of tall bushes that I was shooting through before she flew too far. It was then that I noticed a county sheriff parked behind my car. I walked over to the officer who asked me what I was doing. I explained about the birds, and he asked me not to park in the median anymore. I said OK and he left. But by then the eagle was gone and I didn't think it wise to hang out.

The New Bald Eagle

Here's a new bald eagle I discovered this weekend. Well, he's new to me at least. I thought I'd spotted a bald eagle out at Robinson Preserve a few weeks ago, but he was far away and the pictures were a little inconclusive. (From a distance, an osprey looks an awful lot like a bald eagle.) But I made it a point to get a little closer on this trip, and sure enough, there he was. But only for a couple of minutes. Not long after I got close enough to squeeze off a few shots, he decided to take to the air and flew off in the opposite direction. Oh, well. You can see the nest in the shot above. I think this is the only eagle nest I've ever seen that was completely out in the open. All the others I know of are in a living tree, tucked in among other trees. I suspect this one may have been like that at one time, but nowadays, this is all that's left.

Eagle In The AM

I had hoped to catch both of them at some point, but since I have to send the big rental lens back soon, one is going to have to do. This is one of my local bald eagles on his favorite perch, silhouetted against the sunrise this morning.

Too Short

Well, as luck would have it, I spotted a bald eagle today. He was circling overhead as I roamed around the ground of The Ringling Museum. Unfortunately, all I had on the camera was a 17-55mm lens, which meant I couldn't get any shots that showed very much. These are both minuscule crops of much larger pictures. But there is no mistaking that white head and the white tail. By the time I got back to the car and grabbed a longer lens, he was half a mile down the waterfront.

Baldy Is Back

Well, the first of my local bald eagle pair is back. Don't know how long he's actually been around, but today was the first time I've seen him. I came around the corner, and there he was, just sitting up on his favorite tree limb. I don't think he's been back for long, since the local birds haven't learned to avoid the area yet. I think that's a mocking bird beating a hasty retreat in the photo below after he got a little too close. The eagle just gave him a dirty look and off the little bird went. I'll keep my eye out for the other one and let you know when they become a matched pair again.

Another Eagle

This eagle is a little more solid that most of the eagles I've brought you around here. This particular bird is part of a World War II Memorial in The Battery, NYC. He faces the Statue Of Liberty, and is near several stone pillars that list the names of those who served. You can get a sense of how large it is by the reflection of the tourist in the front of the base. It's big!

Baby Birdies

I walked out of the shop this morning and spotted something a little out of the ordinary on the cell tower across the street. It took some close watching, but I finally decided that there were two juvenile bald eagles perched up there. The shot above is the best one I got, and it's enhanced quite a bit. I don't think this will make the calendar, but it's something you don't see every day.

Lookee, lookee who came back later in the day? Only one of them this time, and not in the best spot to get a picture, but at least the light was much better.

One More Bald Eagle

Hard to believe but I spotted one more rare bird while in Titusville for the shuttle launch. There were dozens of ospreys around while I was shooting, and I'd pretty much been ignoring them. But something caught my eye about one that just didn't look right, and sure enough, it turned out to be a bald eagle. He was pretty much out of range, but I still squeezed off a couple of blurry shots. Don't judge me too harshly on them, I was just happy to see a bald eagle.


What I didn't expect after spotting the eagle was to see an osprey start giving him a hard time. Twice he came after the eagle in mid-air, and twice the eagle did some incredible flying to show the osprey who was boss. It's a little tough to see in these photos, but that's the osprey on top and the eagle on bottom, flying upside down to go after the osprey with his talons. I kept hoping he'd fly back by, but I never saw him again after this pass.

More Eagles

Well, after finding a new bald eagle nest yesterday, I thought I'd stop by my local nest this afternoon and see what I could see. As I was pulling up, I saw one of the adults in his usual perch on a dead tree near his nest. You've seen this same shot any number of times now, going all the way back to my first sighting of these eagles back in 2005. Off to the left of this, I saw the other adult raising a commotion in another tree, but by the time I got the camera out and the long lens on it, that bird was nowhere to be seen. I hopped out of the car and started walking around when something caught my attention.

Soaring behind the trees was a big dark bird. My first thought was that it was a vulture, they seem to be all over the place around here lately. But something didn't seem right about it, so I snapped a quick shot and tried to get out from behind the trees, but I didn't see him again. Well, at least not in the air.

Sure enough, after scanning the tree line for a while, I spotted what I think is the same bird. It's a juvenile bald eagle, probably not long out of the nest. I waited almost half an hour hoping he'd take flight, but he was content to sit on his limb and wait me out.

Another Eagle!

So, I'm cruising down the road today with the top down, doing about 60, when I see this bald eagle. He's sitting on top of a cell phone tower, just watching the world go by. I rapidly decelerate and pull over to shoot some pictures. I think he may actually be nesting on the cell tower, which I think is a little atypical. They don't normally nest on artificial structures. And given the size to which their nests can grow, it's going to be a problem for the people who operate the tower. Anyhow, I was quite happy to find another eagle nest.

Support Your Local Eagle

As part of the Earth Day festivities at Oscar Scherer State Park last Sunday, they brought out this bald eagle. He's a permanent resident of a local sanctuary, and they bring him out to show the majesty of these beautiful birds. You see them on the backs of quarters, and maybe in the opening animation on The Colbert Report, but how often do you get to see these guys up close? Never, that's how often. Well, maybe not never, but rarely. And Sunday was your chance. They really are magnificent. No wonder they selected the bald eagle as our national bird. They're much more exciting than some dumb old turkey.