Adult Bald Eagle in flight in morning light - Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/2000, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, not baited
Normally during the month of February Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area has hundreds of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) within its boundaries but that was not the case in February 2012. Because of the unusually mild winter we had many of the Bald Eagles that typically winter over in the Salt Lake Valley stayed in locations further north where lakes and rivers that typically freeze over had areas that were ice free.
4 year old Bald Eagle in flight with prey - Nikon D200, f9, 1/400, ISO 250, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 300mm, natura light, not baited
I missed seeing dozens of the Farmington Bay Bald Eagles sitting on the ice, flying over the marshes and stands of Phragmites and scooping up carp from the water this year. Last year I may have seen well over a hundred Bald Eagles on a single trip to the WMA and this year four was the highest number I counted on a trip there.
The Bald Eagles that were in the valley have now moved towards to their breeding grounds along with the others that stayed north of here. I wish them a successful breeding season and I look forward to seeing them this coming winter.
During the summer months I don’t often see Bald Eagles unless I go up into the high country or travel north of Utah to Idaho, Wyoming or Montana but in the Salt Lake Valley many Bald Eagles come in to spend the winter.
Four year old Bald Eagle Portrait ~ Davis County, Utah Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 200, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
By the time autumn arrives I find myself anxiously looking forward to seeing my first Eagle of the season and usually the first one I spot is flying high overhead or perched on a craggy rock.
Many of the Bald Eagles that over winter in the Salt Lake Valley have migrated down from the mountains or from much father north of Utah, including Bald Eagles from Alaska.
Adult Bald Eagle in flight ~ Davis County, Utah Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/2500, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
I have been seeing a spattering of Bald Eagles either in flight or perched in leafless trees lately and before long there will be hundreds more.
I haven’t heard any calling yet but I suspect that I will be hearing that soon. I am looking forward to seeing and photographing the Bald Eagles that call this valley home during the coldest months. Utah ROCKS for bird photography!
It seems that people either love high key images or they hate them. Personally; I believe that when a high key image is done well that they can be very appealing and have a place in my portfolio. Yesterday I went out on low light with falling snow to photograph birds on a pond near where I live and came back with a few high key images I really like, one of which I have posted below.
High key Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) on snow ~ Salt Lake County, Utah December 13, 2011 Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 1000, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 300mm, natural light
This Mallard had just come out of the water and was walking on snow-covered ice so in this case the foreground and background are entirely snowy white and by using exposure compensation of +0.3 I was able to expose the Mallard so that it would not need to be lightened in post processing introducing unwanted or unnecessary noise plus it showed nice details in her plumage. There is sufficient detail by the duck’s feet to show that it was walking on snow.
High key first year Bald Eagle ~ Davis County, Utah February 21, 2011 Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/250, ISO 320, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 300mm, natural light, not baited
High key images do not always have white backgrounds, at times they are very light colors or a combination of colors like in this image of a first year Bald Eagle, the upper portion is sky and the lighter area below is snow on the ground. Because of the light and the exposure compensation I used I was able to retain the bird’s color and fine details in the plumage.
High Key Rough-legged Hawk lift off ~ Davis County, Utah December 12, 2011 Nikon D300, f5.6, 1/1600, ISO 800, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 335mm, natural light, not baited
Gray or milky skies often lend themselves to the creation of high key images, when I photographed the Rough-legged Hawk above the skies were grey but in the distant background the out of focus mountains are still visible.
Personally I like all three images and will continue to look for the opportunity to create more high key images. They are different than my “normal” images but creating them also tests and increases my photographic skills and I enjoy that.
Adult Bald Eagle in flight over a Utah marsh Davis County, Utah Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) are powerful raptors, the white eyes of the adults look fierce, they have impressive wingspans and each stroke of the wings is strong. I’ve seen them have fights over prey where I was sure one of the birds might be injured or die from being ripped up by the dagger sharp talons or wounded by the hook-like beak. I have always been impressed by their large size and their exciting aerial maneuvers.
Yesterday a friend of mine sent me a link to an Eagle nest cam in Decorah, Iowa near a fish hatchery that I have been having fun watching so I thought I’d share it. I think it is wonderful that today’s video camera technology allows us to view the nests without distrubing the adults or the chicks while allowing us to observe the behavior on a daily basis.
While watching the Decorah eagle cam yesterday I could see three eggs in the nest. To me it is amazing how gentle the adults are when settling down on the eggs to incubate and how gingerly they adjust the fragile eggs. I’m looking forward to seeing the young eaglets hatch and grow. I did a web search on when the eggs were laid and the first one was laid on February 23rd,usually eagle eggs take about 35 days to hatch so the first egg should hatch around the 1st of April.
While watching the cam I was able to see both adults taking turns incubating, gentle rearranging the nesting material and keeping an eye out for intruders. Late in the evening the cam goes to black & white (after that I could hear a horrible hum) for a period of time and the video stops recording after that. This morning it started as black & white (with that hum) fpr awhile. Even before daylight the adult on the nest began to call.
I’ve been able to hear other birds with my volume on, this morning I was sure I heard an American Bittern and there always seems to be the sound of smaller birds too.
I’m sure I am going to find this fascinating to watch and the camera is close enough to the nest that I should be able to watch the adults feeding the chicks. Enjoy! (Sorry about the brief commercial before this starts)
The wind is blowing hard here and the light is going to be horrible because of the incoming storm, so I think I’ll watch the live feed today to get my bird watching fix
Mia
The Decorah Eagle cam will go off the air when the birds are no longer being seen around the nest.
Close up of a one year old Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) Farmington Bay Wildlife Management AreaNikon D200, f/10, 1/125, ISO 250, Nikkor 200-400mm with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
I’ve found Bald Eagles difficult to approach most of the time which is why a long lens is often needed. But not this one year old bald eagle, it has actually flown into an area where there are 8 or more photographers standing with their tripods and gear which has been very surprising.
I first saw this young bald eagle yesterday perched on a post on the side of a culvert posing for the other photographers that were already there. After a bit the bird flew off to the west and I liked the previews I was seeing on my LCD screen of the images I had taken of it. I thought it was very tolerant of the people and photographers viewing and photographing it.
A little later on a juvenile bald eagle flew from the west towards the group of photographers I was standing with and glided about 10 feet over our heads to land on a post not 15 feet from us. By now I was amazed and astonished by the behavior of this yearling bald eagle.
One year old Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) portrait Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/250, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
After about a half an hour the bird flew off but then returned again to land on a sign post near the road. When I left the young bald eagle was still perched on the post seemingly undisturbed by human presence.
I’ve observed at times where younger birds seemed a little less bothered by human presence before but they were nothing like this eagle who appeared to show no fear. The eagle appeared very healthy, it flew in and out several times and its eyes were clear and bright. No signs were visible that it might be ill.
I puzzled about it last night and felt very privileged to have seen this behavior and to have photographed the bird. It stayed for awhile and flew off. I thought it might be the last time I’d see the eagle but I was wrong.
This morning when I went out to the same location to photograph this morning I was once again amazed as I saw the one year old bald eagle perched on a sign post. Stunned may be more like it.
I took some images of the bird and then walked to the other side of the road to try and get some images of the other eagles in the area and kept turning to see if the bird was still there. It lifted off after a bit and flew towards the west into the stands of phragmites in the marsh.
One year old Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in flight Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/1250, +1.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
The other eagles were not getting close enough to take images so all of the photographers were standing around chatting. I noticed a bird lift up out of the phragmites and said “bird up” as the juvenile flew straight towards us and we all started to take images. As the eagle flew closer and closer and I thought we’d get a fly over.
Imagine the surprise that we all felt when it landed on a snow covered railing not 12 feet from the closest photographer!
It was so close I had to walk across the road with my tripod and camera to get full body shots!
Perched one year old Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) Nikon D200, f10, 1/200, ISO 250, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 225 mm, natural light, not baited
The one year old Bald eagle didn’t stay there long, I only took 60 images before it flew away. Maybe it will show up again the next time I am out photographing in that location.
I mentioned on an earlier post here that some days are magic. I’ve just had two more!
PS: I do hope this one year old does develop more hesitation to be around humans, not everyone would respect its boundaries like the people & photographers have the last two days.
