Bald Eagles Are Still Few And Far Between

I haven't been feeling good the last few days. But I figured since the weather finally got better, I'd go out and try to get a few shots.  It's obvious the arrival of the eagles aren't even close to complete yet.  I only seen 19 again today.  And all but two of those were way off either flying or in trees.  A lot of people can't tell the difference between a Bald Eagle and a buzzard from a distance.  There are two ways I've found out that you can easily tell the difference.  One is the wing shape.  If they are gliding, buzzards wings are more of a straight on the front of the wing, and the wing feathers are curved from the tip to the side.  A Bald Eagle will have more of an oval shape, straight on the front and back of the wing.  Another way I have found to tell, is the way an Eagle flaps it's wings.  They are more of a constant flapper, as opposed to a buzzard that glides just about always.  Eagles will glide when they get higher up, but generally they are flying low from what I see, and they have a long, steady, heavy flap.  I'm by no means an expert in this, it's just what I look for.

When I first pulled up to the first hot spot, I seen two Balds flying together, locking talons, behind the trees of course.  They left shortly after I pulled up, but another was still flying around.  I got this shot of him.......

I had to really pull this out of the RAW file in photoshop.  But it still turned out decent.  I went the full route, only seeing the eagles in the distance, not close enough to photograph.  So I went ahead and took a picture of this guy.......

Pretty horse indeed.  On the way back, I seen a juvenile in the tree.  I parked a bit back, and thought I might be able to walk up to him.  I got almost there, when he took off, and I managed this shot.  By far the best of the day.......

So overall, not too good of a day, but not bad since I at least got three keepers.  I might go out again tomorrow, but it seems they don't like wind too much.  I used to always say they would never be out on windy days very much.  But I ate my words one day last year, when I seen well over a 100 on an extremely windy day.  So we will see how I feel before I go.  As for now, it's time to rest for me.  Until next time.......