Eagle with Fresh Kill

Khutzeymateen is known for the Wild Grizzly Bears but many other Wild creatures reside here !

The Bald Eagle was spotted several hours earlier by our guide while in her Kayak, as she was delivering our lunch to us further up the Estuary. The Estuary is about 25 miles in length from the Pacific Ocean & only navigable to the furthest end at Full Tide. The Eagle had captured a wild goose & was tearing into it with goose feathers everywhere on the rock laden shoreline. The Eagle had goose feathers captured in his mouth area with blood stained cheeks and beak. We arrived in the Zodiac several hours after first spotting this encounter & the goose was almost devoured by the bird. Within that time the Tide was receding & had lowered several feet when we arrived in our floating Zodiac boat. The Eagle was now several feet higher up the rocks and somewhat hidden by the shoreline rocks, at times as we drifted closer with the tide. The Scene was dark with wet granite rocks from the receding tide waters and wet lichen. The white headed eagle was a stark contrast to the dark surroundings, using a -.67 meter reading compensation helped retain the detailed head area. A further meter compensation of -1.0 would have rendered the heads exposure better, but I was able to draw out details sufficiently when processing.
The higher shutter speed ( 1/1000) was chosen for the Eagles flight departure, Hopefully!
The foreground O.O.F. fucus covered rock is somewhat distracting but, was what was offered .
The Intensity of the Eagles stare upwards is enhanced by the flowing grasses bending in the direction of the stare, as well the Topline of the large rock following those lines as well. The wet feathers on his back give testament to the rain filled Rain forest where rain was our constant companion. A close look in the Eagles tail area reveals the Goose remnants, and claw of the dead bird.

Nikon D700, Nikon Lens 200-400mm VR F4, @ 350mm. 1/1000 speed, @ F4.5 ,
ISO 1800, -.67 Meter compensation, Hand Held from the floating Zodiac.
This is about 80% of Full frame.

Thanks

Bill