Bald Eagle

Gallery: AvianPosted December 25, 2009203 views16 comments

Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Today started off with a dreary fog but the birds did not seem to mind. The birds kept Ron & I busy practically the whole morning.

We'd seen an eagle early on perched on this old pole by a boat ramp and took pictures through the fog then the bird flew away. Later in the morning we were driving towards the pole and saw an eagle there again, so we stopped. Before long the eagle took off and flew west and dropped into the water of the canal about 1/4 of a mile away.

About that time a kestrel came and perched where the Eagle had been. Approximately four to five minutes later the Eagle may have spotted the kestrel and started flying back our way very quickly, chased the kestrel off and then landed back on the perch. The clouds and fog opened up around that time thankfully.

Santa didn't bring us any new gear but he seemed to have made sure to give us the gift of plentiful birds today!

D200, lens resting on pickup window, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 200, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 320mm, natural light, 94% of original image, not baited.

As always, I sincerely appreciate your comments & critiques, thank you for looking.

Comments

16 comments

Comment posted by Nick Saunders on December 25, 2009 at 9:43 PM

Mia this was a very co-operative Eagle ! Lovely detail and sharpness

Registered on February 6, 2008, 321 Posts, 3035 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on December 25, 2009 at 10:26 PM

That's some amazing detail Mia. Wish I had a chance today to shoot

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on December 25, 2009 at 10:47 PM

Nice, Mia. I like the somewhat bedraggled look of the bird with that fierce eagle look coming through regardless. Excellent technically, as usual.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on December 25, 2009 at 11:29 PM

Mia, beautiful detail in the feathers. Love the pose and perch, as well as the sky.

Sandy r

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on December 26, 2009 at 12:14 AM

Everything looks perfect to me Mia, perfect image quality. Looks like he works for a living based on the disheveled plumage. You are so fortunate to have such great bird life available at this time of year. I'm in an avian dead-zone it seems, drove and walked around again today and found nothing (Nothing) to photograph...

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on December 26, 2009 at 5:04 AM

Great detail in the disheveled plumage Mia.

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on December 26, 2009 at 7:19 AM

The large view looks excellent Mia. Colors look very natural, outstanding details.
The lightly clouded BG is great..
Wish I could get this close to the bald eagle darnit..They winter here in Central Texas, but I know of only one nest, and it's slightly out of reach for my lens..Bet you've heard that before

Very well done

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Sally King on December 26, 2009 at 10:36 AM

I love the worn appearance of the eagles feathers. They can't always look perfect and have all their feathers aligned. Nice pose that goes well with your usual excellent fine details.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on December 26, 2009 at 5:50 PM

I like the keen look of the eagle and the nice detail in the feathers. If this were mine I would bump up the contrast a little bit.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on December 26, 2009 at 6:38 PM

A fine image with great detail and perfect natural color, contrast, and saturation for the conditions.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on December 26, 2009 at 7:51 PM

A very nice pose. Baldies seem to always have an interesting look in their eye--it must be that yellow iris. The plumage detail and comp are great too. I love the ruffled, mildly disheveled look.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on December 26, 2009 at 10:13 PM

Disheveled is sure a good word to describe this fellow, Mia. Looks like he's having a bad feather day. Lovely detail (as usual) and a really interesting look to this normally majestic bird.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on December 26, 2009 at 10:19 PM

Gorgeous shot - I'd love to be this close to a Bald Eagle - we rarely get adults here, usually just juvies flying over head.

I love the determined and pensive look as well as the clear blue skies.

- Luke

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Hal Trachtenberg on December 27, 2009 at 7:28 AM

Nice!! I like the detail in this photo

Registered on December 26, 2009, 31 Posts, 40 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on December 28, 2009 at 8:28 AM

Mia, It's wonderful to see such nice detail in this species - not easy to get in a wild bird like this one. I really like the somewhat atypical downward looking pose and that blue sky with clouds background. Your processing looks ideal to my eye. Personally, I'm not sure I'd use the word "disheveled" to describe this bird - to my eye it just looks fluffed up a bit and maybe the 4th year plumage contributes to the unruly look. I think it's a heckuva shot - congrats!

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Jimmie Fata on December 28, 2009 at 5:59 PM

Mia, This photo reminds me of my father who always seems to get grumpier around the holidays. Thanks for the advice on my first picture posted. I reposted the image taking into account your suggestions.

Registered on December 27, 2009, 14 Posts, 55 Comments