Furious Skies

Since my last eagle shots went over so well with people, I decided to go out for some more. This time my intention was to hit them at first light with the nice golden morning sun. I'll make this entry short and sweet as there really doesn't need to be much captioning. In short, I only stuck around for about an hour as they weren't nearly as abundant as before. They had definitely started to nest by this time.

Juvenile with an adult. I think the juvy's just wait for the older birds to snag fish so they can hassle them, honestly.

Oops, cut off another wing. I really have to quit doing this.

Now at the LeClaire dam. The lighting was PERFECT, exactly what I had in mind.

One of the very few that were present on this particular morning. Hopefully I'll snag some much better shots next year.

What you lookin' at?

Ok, I have to admit, I have violated this request. But, in my defense, I didn't know such a favor was asked. I never really got TOO close to one, but I have definitely been close enough to scare quite a few away. After reading this sign, I certainly started to keep my distance. Besides, 400mm is more than enough to snap some good shots from a good distance.

There I go cutting off another wing. It's tougher than you think to get an entire bird in the frame when it gets a little close.

This guy must have just finished a fish. I've noticed they all clean their beaks on branches like this after a meal.

I definitely didn't like these as well as the last outing, but I still walked away with some o.k. shots. I can't wait for next year already.

My buddy Joel has also taken one of the most amazing pictures I have ever seen! This is an extremely rare photo and has been submitted to the National Geographic. In this once in a lifetime shot, this remarkable robin had apparently speared a fish and flew a few miles to rest in Joel's back yard. In a moment of pure coincidence, he happened to walk to his kitchen window and witnessed this extremely rare occurrence. My eagle photos have been getting somewhat of a wide range of attention, but this will surely put Joel into retirement. Congrats, Joel!