Eagles & Eagle Watchers

Congratulations to a good friend and good photographer, Stephen Sinclair, on a successful showing of over 100 of his wildlife prints at the Estero Llano Grande State Park in Weslaco on Saturday.  Steve was overwhelmed at the number of friends, photographers and nature lovers who came to view his work.

I spent Thursday, Friday and Saturday photographing bald eagles in the Texas hill country where two young birds were about to fledge.  The  eaglets  were flapping about the nest well before sunrise on Friday and Saturday, as several of us set up positions along a highway about 100 yards away.  Anticipating the best activity would be around sunrise and sunset, we waited patiently for chances to catch the adults bringing in food and nest material and tending the young.

Although the action was slow, but the weather was great.  We were treated to a magnificent sunset on Friday and that allowed us to make some fine images of the nest and birds with a colorful background.

Here is a sample of what we got:

Don’t forget to click on the right side of the images to make them larger and sharper for viewing.  The you can advance through the photos by clicking the arrows.

Bald Eagle landing at nest at sunset.
Bald Eagle landing at nest at sunset.

The image above was captured with a Canon 5D Mark II and 24-105 mm lens with tripod, ball head and electronic release.  1/125 second, f4.5, ISO 400 @ 105 mm.

Adult eagle arriving just after sunrise with part of a fish.
Adult eagle arriving just after sunrise with part of a fish.

This capture was done with a Canon 7D camera, 500 mm IS Canon lens, Wimberley head, Feisol carbon fiber tripod.  The 7D gave me 1.6X magnification effect without having to add a teleconverter  for the long shot. 1/5000 second @ f5.6, ISO 640….1/2000 second @ f11 would have been better.  I was exposing for the white head.

Adult bald eagle with nest material.
Adult bald eagle with nest material.

I used the Canon 1D Mark IV, 500 mm IS lens, and 1.4 X teleconverter to make this images at ISO 500, 1/1600 second, f8.

During the mid-day hours, the adults perched and preened at various locations in view of the nest.
During the mid-day hours, the adults perched and preened at various locations in view of the nest.

The image above was made with the Canon 1D Mark IV, 500 mm lens and 2X teleconverter and cropped slightly to maintain about 8-12 megapixels.

Tourists began arriving around 9:00 AM, hoping to get a look at our national symbol.  The image below was done with the Canon 7D and 100-400 lens, hand-held.

"Happiness is watching bald eagles in my rear view mirror."
“Happiness is watching bald eagles in my rear view mirror.”
The adult birds added, sticks, grass, weeds and soil to the nest during occasional late morning visits.
The adult birds added sticks, grass, weeds and soil to the nest during occasional late morning visits.
Adult bald eagle making one last nest check as evening approaches.
Adult bald eagle making one last nest check as evening approaches.

This adult hopped into the nest to check the young one last time before flying away to roost.

Adult landing at nest as night approaches.
Adult landing at nest as night approaches.
Eaglet exercising while excited photographers capture the last images of the day.
Eaglet exercising while excited photographers capture the last images of the day.

Photographing eagles just before fledging time requires a lot of patience, but it is so-o-o rewarding for the photographer who persists until the light is gone.

Hope you enjoyed the eagles.

Larry