a different focus

I decided to dust off my camera and head to the river in hopes of finding eagles fishing. I have not road tripped/hauled my camera anywhere in a very long time. I barely even use my camera at home. Convincing myself to pack up and go took time. I lost beautiful early morning light and probably more eagles fishing.

how many eagles do you see?

my answer: a lot

get ready

It didn't take long to realize I was rusty not only at tracking, but predicting the action. My one touch down shot was a blurry mess (deleted). I am well aware this series of photos are soft. Hoping to try again with a few adjustments ex. no lens adaptor. I can do better, even without ideal equipment.

heading back

spotted this eagle from a different vantage point
it was not budging

Regardless, I had fun on my little road trip with me, myself and I. It was nice to focus on something different, and forget the heaviness of life for a little while. It reminded me how much I enjoy the challenge of tracking/predicting moving things.

immature eagle

2.9.2026

eagle eyes

My photography assistant came home from getting fuel after a recent snow storm and said "there are two eagles off the Hwy if you want to take photos?" Who says no to that, not me!! Even after I just got done shooting 9 month photos of Hope.

The eagles were on a fairly busy Hwy. Not safe for getting out of a vehicle that has pulled off the side of the road, on a non-existent snow covered shoulder. After twenty questions I scrambled to change clothes, switch lenses and took the transportation offer. Hoping the eagles had not flown away.

It has been a long time since I used my longer lens. I haven't practiced the fine art of standing in snow with frozen fingers, fiddling with camera settings. Add the pressure of vehicles passing and I accidentally swiped the touch screen. Whoopsee! No time to undo whatever it was I did. Bird number one had left the scene.

Brad was pulled off the highway onto a field road entrance. I was standing off the road next to the truck. Of course we still got these looks "what is that truck doing? Is it stuck?? Why is that crazy lady getting out?" 

1/10/24

Not my best bird photos, but the best I have taken in a long time. Birds seem to know when something is pointed at them. Even in silence and at a great distance. 

Ever since shutdown, the popular public annual rehabilitated eagle release at the river has ceased. I thought perhaps this year the public release would be offered again. It was such a special event! I was wrong. Eagles are still rehabilitated and released, but without notice. 

It is okay. Eagle numbers have dramatically increased. They are frequent flyers in this general area. Plus, I have a stellar photography assistant with eagle eyes. Looking forward to finding more spread wings, to practice shooting action in 2024! With my camera. Of course.

Sunday Sights

Life has been busy this past week. Consequently, pending posts are piling up. Which translates to, they may or may not ever be completed/shared. I am glad I gave myself A LOT of flexibility with my attempt at regular Monday posts. They wouldn't happen otherwise.

This weeks sights did not happen on Sunday...they are from Tuesday. I packed my camera and took advantage of already being on the road for an oil change appointment.

After finding swans, I decided to change my focus to looking for different ducks. No clue why. I never paid attention to the various duck species. I wished to photograph a Wood Duck. I have never seen one in person. They are so colorful!

I had just arrived at my destination and out of the corner of my eye I saw ~ EEKS ~ Wood Ducks!! I pulled over and tried to contain my excitement. I had to shoot through brush as the pair quickly swam away.  

4-19-22

I have the patience of a gnat, but Wood Ducks are worth waiting for. 15 minutes later, they returned.

male

female

pair

There were other ducks floating around within reach of my camera.

Lesser Scaup

pair

Blue-Winged Teal pair


I will have to try to get a better photo of a Blue-Winged Teal male.

Northern Shoveler

I was happy with what I found and headed back to my truck to leave. Suddenly, a large something came flying out of nowhere. It dramatically dove into the water in the distance. Multiple times. My exact words were "what the hell was THAT?!!" All I knew when I took these photos, was that it was big.

Update: What I saw was an immature Bald Eagle, not a Golden Eagle. Whoops! I thought it was awesome that ebird contacted me to let me know. Apparently Golden Eagles are rare, and this bird was not one. 

Immature Bald Eagle

I thought he was fishing


the amazing show lasted a couple minutes


eagle bathing

The eagles head was completely under water during one of the dives.

the eagle flew away

then circled back for another dunk :)))

it was SO COOL to watch!!

Even with all the excitement of watching the eagle bathe, the highlight for me was seeing these two:

Wood Duck ~ female 

Wood Duck ~ male 

a great start

Shortly after my hubby left to take one of our hay wagons to an auction, he called. That was unusual. 

Ruh Roh I thought to myself.

Nothing was wrong. Brad just called to tell me there was an eagle in a field not far from our house.

Really? Cool! I was sitting in my jamies, under my blankee enjoying a morning cup of coffee by the fire. My favorite way to start my day.

I can do that anytime, but an eagle close to home is rare.

Time to hustle. I put some warmer clothes on, switched lenses and headed out as fast as my not quite awake self could.

I found a mature eagle!! I pulled off to the side of the road before reaching the eagle, and stayed in my truck at a fair distance. Vehicles kept driving by. No doubt wondering what I was doing.

Much to my surprised after the mature eagle flew away to a tree across the field, a second juvenile eagle (4ish yrs old?)  suddenly flew from a tree next to the road. I had put my camera away, but fired it up in time to capture these:

What a great start to a blue sunny sky Saturday!!

Have I told you lately how much I love my husband? A lot.

a good dusting

I haven't gone on any road trips this Winter to look for Snowy Owls, or other birds for that matter. My day trip max is two hours one way, and those are rare. Maybe once or twice a year. If I go, I usually stay local-ish and try to spot more common feathers. Although there have been a couple Snowy's spotted not too far, including on the lake I recently posted about.

I decided to make a trip to the river to see what I can see. I took a short detour on my way, and found Canadian Geese. Gee, what a surprise. There are bazillions of these messy birds, everywhere. I enjoy watching them fly.

I have seen interesting floaters from a lesser known viewing spot on the West side of the river. Not this time. I found more geese and some common ducks. I decided to pass on watching them and check out the much busier East side of the river. Most public river viewing areas had been roped off for Winter safety. 

I am usually alone and either shoot from my truck or don't venture far anyways. Depends on where I am and who is around. I've been warned by locals not to walk the wooded part of the river path alone, so I don't. Brad, Tank and I discovered some cool secluded seating & viewing areas during warmer weather walks. There are some places where you can go down by the river banks. The lookouts are wonderful.

My viewing was all done at a long distance, thank goodness for zooms!! I finally figured out where Eagle Island is. Sure enough, there was one lone Eagle doing lots of nothing.
 

It was windy & cold. I didn't stay long, Other people showed up and watched the island eagle from the warmth of their vehicles. On the way back to my truck, I spotted an immature eagle suddenly swoop down from the trees across the river. It caught me by surprise. The flight was over in seconds. I did the panic, fling my camera up, waver-n-hope familiar snap thing lol. Not the sharpest photos.

I checked on the island eagle before heading out. Yep, he was still perched. I watched him turn his head, and give a small flock of geese the stink eye for flying by his island.

I tried to find a better vantage point, facing the opposite direction. I still had to shoot at a great distance, and now also through trees. This stoic guy was clearly not going anywhere anytime soon.

Time to head home, after my short & sweet photography adventure. I was happy to have dusted off my camera.

Birding is kind of like looking for a needle in a haystack. You know where the hay is, but good luck finding the needle.