A kind woman who rehabs birds and some furry animals found an eagles on the edge of a lake not far from her home.  We went there to day to try for photos. After a short hike up a hill to take us above and behind , we saw one of the parents on a branch of the tree where the aerie(nest) was build. View was severly limited due to almost full foliage on trees and bushes between the viewing point and the eagle.

I got three "just acceptable" shots of the parent when it came back for a second time. The first time, it left fairly quiclly after we arrived.  It would not stay with us there but did fly over and circle  from a distance keeping a watch.  Twice to my notice, both parents flew over, one a distance behind the other.               

These are certainly not gallery worthy photos but are my first of a bald eagle in the wild and a chick.  The chick will need 4 to 5 years to fully develop the adult plumage of white head and tail.   Even with spot metering at 300mm and manual focus to cut through the branches and leaves, the white of the parent head blew out, over exposed and cannot be recovered.

The Renderosity member I met is ocoee53.  Why did we not think to take a shot together or the meeting for the forum?  Who knows.  I do hope he got better photos than I did.  It was a treat to meet this gentleman.

The chick..the smaller one there earlier was not to be seen. It is not unusual for a smaller or weaker member to be pushed from the nest. Or, it couild have fallen.  Note the stick construction of the aerie. As with ospreys, the eagles will use the nest year after year.

The kind lady who took us to the spot has  better photos. Fortunately for her the location is close enough to visit fairly often.  She said next year the first visit will be sooner since these eagles did nest earlier than expected. At that time earlier in the year, foliage will not hamper photos quite so much.

I did not get photos I would have liked but did watch this magnificient bird and its mate fly over and cricle a few time.  The sight was quite wonderful.  Yes, a good photo of that would have been nice but was like shooting a distant moving creature through a lattice work ...made of trees, branches and leaves.  

This was a good day. 

 

 

 

 

This was a good day.

Thank you for sharing Tom. Glad you could meet with a Renderosity member.

It's really exciting to see them in the wild like that, isn't it? Thanks for sharing them, Tom, I hope you get to go back for more!

 

Manning

Manning

Congratulations for very exciting shots, Tom.  Sometimes it can be very hard to make the camera NOT focus on branches. but you did well.

Both your photos and narratve was interesting.

Whilst you say these shots are not gallery worthy, I think they really help put me in your shoes on the trail of these majestic birds! I enjoyed this.

The hill was steep with a small rock ledge and four of us each trying and switching around to get a shot between the stuff between us and the birds.  Focus was tough and manual a must.  The white on the tree side at the nest the chick dark..so exposure was also a trial!  These are blown up a bit and cropped from 300mm..

The eagles sure won't build an aerie in a convenient spot for us...and  that is the better for them.  I believe humans are their greatest predator.

I'd be excited just to see one...thanks for sharing this

www.bclaytonphoto.com

bclaytonphoto on Facebook

Wonderful, Tom! So sad about the smaller one though. We have bald eagles in our area, but very rare to see them also and never their nests! I see golden eagles more often, as they are much more common here. Both birds are huge and very imtimidating, hard to see why we scare them.... they're the ones with the huge talons and sharp beak!

Kim Hawkins

 

Kim Hawkins Eastern Sierra Gallery