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.