Adult Bald Eagles are large bodied and have white head and tails, dark brown bodies and wings and yellow legs and bills. It takes about 5 years for Bald Eagles to develop their adult plumage.
Yesterday morning I spent some time up in the Wasatch Mountains and I am so glad that I did because I found a second winter Bald Eagle with leucism.
So if you don't enjoy the craziness that can happen at Farmington Bay WMA when the Bald Eagles arrive for the winter just pick an area and go for a relaxed drive to another location.
One of my trips out to Fish Springs NWR happened during this time of the year and while I was there so was a gorgeous adult Bald Eagle that perched in the trees near the picnic area not too far from the refuge headquarters.
I'd gotten the long distance images of the Bald Eagles at Farmington Bay that I wanted to take plus close up images of this adult eagle as it flew past me. It was a great morning to be at Farmington Bay.
So, even though I didn't get great photos yesterday I was glad to get out and photograph a Barn Owl, Bald Eagle and these California and Ring-billed Gulls.
If I hadn't already been stopped to photograph the blackbird I wouldn't have seen this immature Bald Eagle flying towards me in time to take the photos that I took of it on the wing.
Wow, today is the last day of the year 2016. This is my photographic year in review from Utah, Idaho and Montana!
Twice in the past two weeks I have seen Bald Eagles, one four year old bird in flight over the marshes at Farmington Bay WMA and one juvenile perched in a tree up in Box Elder County.
This is National Wildlife Refuge Week and in celebration I wanted to do a pictorial essay that includes some of my images of the Birds of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
I like that Esther the Eaglet is written with children in mind and that it might inspire the children who read it to become rehabilitators, biologists, ornithologists, nature lovers, birders, environmentalists or even bird photographers like myself.
I mentioned in my post about Short-eared Owls yesterday that I saw Burrowing Owls, Turkey Vultures and a third year Bald Eagle juvenile in northern Utah so I thought I would share a few more images form the northern Utah excursion.
I photographed this adult Bald Eagle at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge early on New Year's Day when the light of dawn was still golden.
When the Bald Eagle lifted off I could see the prey in its talons but it wasn't until I viewed the image on my screen at home that I could tell that the prey was most likely an Eared Grebe because of the lobed feet.
During the winter Farmington Bay has a large population of overwintering Bald Eagles that migrate down from northern states and Canada.
I photographed this adult Bald Eagle as it perched on ice covering the Great Salt Lake in early morning light in January 2012.
I can not imagine not being able to raise my lens and see Bald Eagles through my viewfinder as a bird photographer and nature lover.
In February of 2011 there was a first year Bald Eagle at Farmington Bay WMA that seemed totally unafraid and unconcerned about the people near it.
Words will never fully be enough when I think about the sacrifices our Veterans have made for our country.
Today I am focusing on older posts that have raptors in them starting with Prairie Falcons then Swainson's Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks and Bald Eagles
While in southwestern Montana last week I did see several Bald Eagles and this adult was most obliging as it perched on a conifer in the light of the rising sun.
Patience is absolutely a must for bird photographers and it doesn't hurt to throw a little crazy in the mix too. Spending two hours in freezing temps to photograph a bird might be a little crazy.
My father joined the Army at 17 years of age and was a Korean War Veteran who earned five Bronze Stars for the battles that he fought. Thank you for serving Dad.
Yesterday on the local news I saw that Governor Herbert offered to fund the reopening of Utah's five National Parks which are Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Arches and Capitol Reef.
It has been quite some time since I posted a Bald Eagle here so today I present this adult in a landing pose that I photographed in February of 2011 at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.
It was the day after Christmas in 2009 when I watched this four year old Bald Eagle lift off from this pole to catch this fish in the water impoundment nearby and to my surprise it flew right back to the same pole to devour it.
This is a win/win proposal for the National Wildlife Refuge System and for everyone who visits them. For every person who is concerned about the future of out National Wildlife Refuges and for every organization who supports conservation of our public lands and the nation's wildlife.
Yesterday Ron, Brian Gatlin and I went to Bear River National Wildlife Refuge and the Golden Spike National Historic Site area in bad light, falling snow and lake fog looking for birds to photograph and we came up pretty much empty-handed but we did find this adult Bald Eagle perched on some snow-covered rocks going towards the Golden Spike National Historic Site Visitor Center as the snow fell.
Christmas Day of 2012 turned out to be as beautiful as I hoped at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge because of bright skies, snow on the ground, birds and the expansive views.
Yesterday I took a stroll down memory lane, actually I looked for images I have taken either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day in my files but in a way that is taking a stroll down memory lane.
As I write this the first snow of winter is falling outside my living room window. For the past week I have seen the snow on the mountain tops and I had been looking forward to seeing the snow covering the Salt Lake Valley.