Good Eagle/Bad Eagle

Gallery: AvianPosted March 11, 2015372 views12 comments

I am happy that we still have some Eagles in the area. This is from last Saturday. So the "good" Eagle was minding his own business standing on the ice with one foot on his fish. (It's laying on the ice in the photo) Then the "bad" Eagle flew in at him and nailed him with both feet in his chest knocking him on his back. The following few frames were a blur of feathers. The "bad" Eagle finally took possession of the fish. The third Eagle just stood and watched the incident.
I wish the wingtips of the battered Eagle were not in the other ones face...oh well!

Thanks for looking, comments & suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Please view large image for detail.
Canon 70D
Canon 400mm 5.6
1/3200
f/7.1
ISO 400
HH
Processed with Lightroom 5.7, CS5

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on March 11, 2015 at 7:44 PM

Spectacular image and amazing to get this at 400mm. In my area we had a very cold winter with a lot of ice - and an influx of eagles and it made for some awesome photo ops for many local photogs. I like the other eagle seemingly minding his own business

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

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on March 11, 2015 at 8:56 PM

Excellent action captured. Eagles are great to watch with this kind of behavior. Nice story telling via the image.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on March 11, 2015 at 10:20 PM

Great action shot. Eagles can be rather opportunistic, stealing whenever they can. That characteristic is precisely why Benjamin Franklin preferred the turkey over the bald eagle for our national bird. He felt the bald eagle's character was not particular good.

Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on March 12, 2015 at 5:43 AM

Didn't the third eagle take the fish ?

. Nice and storytelling shot ! Cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on March 12, 2015 at 9:13 AM

Hi Steve,

What I like the most about this shot is how the third eagle SEEMS to be minding its own business and just watching the proceedings while we all know he or she is probably pretty keen on getting that fish too! Nice juxtaposition of "negotiating" styles - in your face attack vs. the polite low-key approach. Disappointed to hear the bully approach paid off!

Cheers...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Ramy on March 12, 2015 at 9:55 AM

Hey Steve,
The WOW Factor is off the charts on this one !
Congratulations on coming away with such a special image, best start get'n this one ready for entry into the competition circuit, it's a sure winner.
Well done . . .

Registered on June 16, 2012, 567 Posts, 2809 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on March 12, 2015 at 12:36 PM

Great catch of the action! Shows the robbing behavior well. Good story image. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on March 12, 2015 at 2:34 PM

Really like the interaction in this one Steve. Nice timing on your part and good story telling with this image.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Tjie Poo on March 12, 2015 at 6:45 PM

Spectacular capture Steve ! This might look as good or maybe even better with the third eagle cropped out ? Just a thought.

Registered on December 4, 2012, 51 Posts, 511 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on March 13, 2015 at 4:04 PM

Great action with good depth of field Steve, this shot definitely tells a story. I was thinking it might make sense to crop out the eagle on the crop to focus on the intense action on the left.

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

Comment posted by Josiah Launstein on March 24, 2015 at 12:54 AM

Wow this picture is so awesome. I love how the eagles are fighting over the fish and l also like how they are fighting on the ice; it makes it look really cool.

Registered on January 26, 2013, 52 Posts, 126 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on August 10, 2015 at 8:34 PM

Tells a great story, love the stop action details. This is when you know you've done your job.. the images sells itself.

Excellent behavorial image, wish it was mine! devil

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