{"id":64282,"date":"2020-02-14T05:56:25","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T12:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=64282"},"modified":"2023-11-12T07:42:14","modified_gmt":"2023-11-12T14:42:14","slug":"golden-eagle-on-the-wing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/02\/14\/golden-eagle-on-the-wing\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden Eagle On The Wing"},"content":{"rendered":"

After spending time looking for birds on the auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> yesterday morning I finally took a few Golden Eagle photos that I am very happy with on the drive back to the interstate.<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden Eagle perched in a tree – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I have a guy driving a little blue sedan who stopped and got out of his vehicle to take photos with a small camera to thank for them.<\/p>\n

When I found and pointed out the Golden Eagle it was perched in a tree that was close to the road, so close that I took off my 1.4x teleconverter because I knew that with it attached all I would get is clipped wings and\/or feet of the bird if it lifted off.<\/p>\n

When I looked back and saw the man get out of his vehicle to take photos I was 99.9% certain that his presence outside of his car would cause the eagle to lift off and fly away. I saw the eagle become anxious and hoped that the eagle would fly to the east if it did because the light would be better on the bird if it flew in that direction.<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden Eagle lifting off – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Then the Golden Eagle lifted off from the tree it had been perched on and flew towards the east. Normally I don’t care for bird images where the wings or feet are clipped but I like this one. It shows the strength, agility, concentration, and power of this eagle on lift off.<\/p>\n

I thought I would probably only have images where wing tips, feet or tail feathers were clipped because of my close proximity to the eagle combined with the focal length of my 500mm lens. I wasn’t driving myself that day or I would have stopped sooner so clipping wouldn’t have been such a big issue.<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden Eagle in flight – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I was wrong. I was<\/em> able to take a few images of the Golden Eagle where I didn’t clip wing tips, feet or tail feathers. This photo is one of them. This is<\/em> the Golden Eagle image I have been hoping for and dreaming about since I moved here in 2009. And it is nearly full frame.<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden Eagle close up – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the next frame in the series and because the Golden Eagle had spread its wings I did clip the wing tips. But I still like the photo because of the intense look I appeared to be getting from the bird.<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden Eagle fly by – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I was able to take one more photo in the series where I didn’t clip a thing. I could wish that the Golden Eagle was looking towards me when I took this photo. I won’t though. This full frame image of the eagle tickles me.<\/p>\n

I could grumble about the man getting out of his vehicle but he may not have known his actions were going to disturb the Golden Eagle enough to cause it to take flight. Not everyone who ventures into the field or nature does.<\/p>\n

The day had its down moments for me, in fact I had to deal with a very uncomfortable situation that almost ruined my entire trip to the refuge.<\/p>\n

No matter how these Golden Eagle photos came to be I am happy to have photographed this magnificent bird on the wing.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Golden Eagle photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No matter how these Golden Eagle photos came to be I am happy to have photographed this magnificent bird on the wing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":118107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,27,1148,1200,26],"tags":[4345,2069,6577,4142,3903,3133,4052,4122,1201,4282,4944,6384,4104,153,4018,4427,373],"class_list":["post-64282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-golden-eagles","category-utah","tag-aquila-chrysaetos","tag-blue-sky","tag-branches","tag-close-up","tag-eagle","tag-eagles","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-golden-eagle","tag-lift-off","tag-lifting-off","tag-on-the-wing","tag-perched","tag-raptors","tag-sky","tag-tree","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-9219.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-gIO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":79250,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/02\/13\/adult-golden-eagle-close-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":64282,"position":0},"title":"Adult 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Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sunrise, a Bald Eagle and Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-mia-mcpherson-2476.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-mia-mcpherson-2476.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-mia-mcpherson-2476.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-mia-mcpherson-2476.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/golden-eagle-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9218.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/golden-eagle-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9218.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/golden-eagle-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9218.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/golden-eagle-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9218.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100335,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/02\/two-bald-eagle-images-from-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":64282,"position":3},"title":"Two Bald Eagle Images From Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The first bird I photographed on the last day of February was an adult Bald Eagle in the soft morning light who was perched on a leaning wooden post.","rel":"","context":"In "Bald Eagles"","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bald Eagle in soft morning light, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/bald-eagle-at-dawn-mia-mcpherson-6442.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/bald-eagle-at-dawn-mia-mcpherson-6442.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/bald-eagle-at-dawn-mia-mcpherson-6442.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Years","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"If you go to Bear River MBR during the winter chances are that you have or will see a Bald Eagle perched on this large wooden post at one time or another.","rel":"","context":"In "Bald Eagles"","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bald Eagle on a leaning wooden post - January 2, 2022, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bald-eagle-adult-leaning-post-mia-mcpherson-2602.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bald-eagle-adult-leaning-post-mia-mcpherson-2602.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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