Been a while (see that on a lot of blogs, lol)

Well, I went out yesterday for the first time in 2 weeks.  Ended up not getting any waterfalls because I worked during the week, and didn't want to waste gas not knowing if any falls were still flowing on the weekend.  Sooooo, first destination, my favorite eagle spot.  Only seen 4 there, all too far away for pictures........blah.  So I continued on the route, but since I had other things to do afterwards, I took the short route.  I almost make it to the highway, and seen the most bald eagles I've ever seen in one spot.  They were EVERYWHERE!  They would fight over the chicken that was obviously left for them.  One would fly, and drop it in it's frantic flying to get away, another would swoop down and pick it up just as it would a fish out of the water, without landing.  Too neat!  I took a video and got this

I then took this shot of these two.  Way cropped, but still a neat photo.....

As I drove off, about a 1/4 mile down the road, I seen this in the tree line.  Had to stop again just to take it.  

So even though there wasn't a lot of good closeup shots for the day, I think it was a major success due to the sheer numbers of eagles I seen.  I'm lucky to live in spot with so many eagles this time of year.  Now to figure out how to get closer to them, :)

Clouds.....and rain on the way

I didn't go out today because I didn't really want any blown out sky photos of the eagles.  So I just stayed home.  Plus looks like a whole lot of rain on the way. Maybe some waterfall pictures next week?  Let's hope.  Don't really have much to say other than that.  Everyone have a great day, :)

And Yet Another Slow Day

I went back to Beaver Dam today.  I first went down to Parker Bend (found out the name of it).  I get there, sit out on the sidewalk that goes out, and wait.  I am there about 30 minutes, and all of the sudden, an eagle, RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME takes off.  I'm like are you serious??  I didn't see it at all.  I can usually spot these guys 10 miles away.  Oh well, he didn't fly off far, I could see him.  I sat there another 30 minutes, hoping he would do some fishing, never did.  So I finally just left.  Sat below the dam a few minutes, then went to my favorite spot.  Seen a juvenile in the tree, snapped a few pictures, I REALLY like this first one. It's extremely sharp.

Then in another tree there was this one, not a great pic, but worthy of posting I suppose

So not too great of a day again, but I do really enjoy that first juvenile picture.  Until next time!

Another Slow Day

Started the day going to my favorite eagle spot.  Nothing close enough to get any photos of.  So I decided to go ahead and head to beaver dam to see what I could get there.  Right below the dam there was a juvenile, but too high up in the trees to get a shot.  I talked to a guy that said there were two flying up and down the river for about 30 minutes yesterday.  So I drove on down, still nothing down at the campground.  So I go back up, to what I believe is called hollow bend?  Not quite sure, but there is always a ton of people fishing there.  I get out, and this guy starts telling me that there were two eagles flying back and forth yesterday, confirmation :).  So I sat there a while, and managed to get a couple of shots of this weird creature.......

I leave after a while and head back to my favorite eagle spot.  This time, I seen a few right before I got there, and there was one right above the road in a tree.  I stop about 100 ft or so from it, and get this shot of it.....

Not too bad of a shot for clouds I suppose.  A guy stopped while I was waiting talking about how it won't be long til they show up heavy.  I agreed.   Then two other guys came down the road on mini dirtbikes.  They were pretty cool looking bikes.  They were seeing if there were any down there, because they hadn't seen any yet this year.  I told them where there were a few around the corner were.  They thanked me and went to investigate, and came back and said they seen one of them.

Seen only 7 today, but was still a fun day.  Think I'll go back to the dam in the morning after the kids head off to school.

Oh Cloudy Days........How I despise you

Thought I'd make a quick trip to the eagles this morning......against my better judgement.  I truly cannot stand a cloudy day when I'm trying to take a photo of a bald eagle.  White skies just don't cut it.  I did see 8 in one area today, but I went ahead and went home, hoping for clearing skies later today.  These are the few that I got.......

First off this hawk.  He was more curious it seemed than anything.......notice the white, blown out sky

Then we have an ok shot, sky doesn't look as white, but still, nothing in it.  I can't stand clear skies either, need a mixture, :)

Same eagle looking at me obviously.  I like it when an eagle stares right at the camera.  Have very piercing eyes.

The shot that could've, would've, didn't.  It looks ok this small, but his head must've been moving pretty good, because his tale and talons are perfectly sharp, and the head has a lot of motion blur going on.  Still a neat shot though

Looks like the weather isn't going to cooperate for me today, so I'll just try again tomorrow, hopefully.  

Not Many Good Shots, But Most I've Seen This Season

Well, when I made it to my first spot this morning, hopes were high.  I seen about 6 bald eagles right off the bat. They were all too far away.  Sad face.  So I continuted down the route, seeing 12 more.......at least.  They seemed to be flying a lot in the distance with a ton of hawks.  I've never seen so many hawks.  I'm bad at distinguishing the different hawks, so I'll just leave it at hawks, :)  I would count, and lose count, constantly, so I kept my count on the low end.  Just guessing, i probably seen about 20 on my route, but I don't want to push it.  I went back to the first spot again, as it's my favorite, and seen 5 more.  All together today, I kept my count at 23 because I know for sure there were at least that many.  Here is one scene that I see quite often in my favorite spot, there is this one tree that they flock to, pun intended.  .......

I talked yesterday about spotting the difference between a bald eagle and a buzzard.  Here is a couple of photos I took to try to help whoever may be reading this. The first one is a buzzard, you can see the arch of the wing

And this one is of course a bald eagle.  Don't just think that you can spot them by the white on the head and tale, because juveniles do not have this feature yet.  But notice the difference in wing shape.  It's one of the easiest ways to tell them apart.

As I was waiting for a few eagles to show up, I was amazed at all the hawks.  Here is one of my favorites I took of the day......

And I heard a little bird chirping, so I turn and see this little guy.  I like how his feet are on the limb......

Now for the only decent eagle shot I got all day........2 hours looking mind you, lol...........

Far from specatcular, but it'll have to do I suppose.  Thanks for reading

One More Shot For The Day

I had to run back to town to get my son right at sunset.  I decided to make a quick trip by one of the eagle spots.  I got this one, although it's heavily cropped, still kinda neat, :)