I just got back from a trip to one of my favorite bird watching spots. I didn’t get as many chances to capture bird images as I would have liked but did capture a few of a beautiful juvenile eagle. I’m guessing it is less than 3 years old as they start to mature and get white heads about 3.5 years old.
I watched this bird hangout in the tree for about 15 minutes until someone popped some fireworks that got it agitated. Finally, it took off and I was able to capture the take off.
I watched it fly around for awhile but never saw it again during several days I was there. A day or so before this, I saw the most insane eagle thing I have ever seen but unfortunately was not ready to shoot it. It also happened outside my lens range. An adult eagle came out of a tree like a bullet about 10 feet over the bay. A couple of seagulls were floating in the bay oblivious to this eagle and it grabbed one out of the water and dragged it away. A fellow seagull followed and tried to get the eagle to release the doomed bird but it was not going to happen. This is a crappy image I got shortly after it was grabbed and you can kind of make out the white of the seagull in the eagle claws.
The eagle took the seagull to the harbor marker tower and shredded the bird as we watched feathers fly through a spotting scope. Definitely the most brutal thing I have ever seen by an eagle!
Nature is cruel but beautiful. The friend seen here dive bombed the eagle for awhile until realizing that it was a lost cause and best to get the hell out of there. The residents of the homes there have told me stories of the eagles taking out great blue herons the same way. I hope you all have a better weekend than that seagull.
I thought I fixed the main picture but it is cutting off on my side & I can’t edit. If anyone can fix it, I would appreciate it.
Fantastic photos of the juvie, @Loveshaq.
That wingspan, my goodness.
We’ve been watching this family of loons the past few weekends:
I’ve never seen loon chick, so cute. I love the sounds they make, very cool birds.
The baby has a funny little call. He’s progressed to swimming underwater for about 3 feet. The adults feed him minnows. The one on the right has one in its beak. They cart him around on their backs when he gets tired of swimming, I guess.
Nice pics, thanks for sharing!
Are you familiar with Johnny Johnson? He’s a wildlife photographer in AK and has been doing it for…pretty much forever. I met him once when I was working up there and have seen a lot of his stuff. Incredible.
https://johnnyjohnsonphoto.com/
I was not familiar but if you are a nature photographer, that is the place to be, at least in the U.S. Checked out a few of his galleries but will spend more time on it later. Very impressive stuff.
Taking out a great blue heron is pretty astonishing because those are big mean birds. Not super agile though.
They are also pretty skittish but the eagle took them out in the air.
That is so cool! We had a pair of bald eagles nesting somewhere around us at the lake house. We haven’t found the actual nest yet – even though we’ve kayaked around for many days looking for it. We did watch it hit another bird that had a fish – making the bird drop it and the eagle caught it in mid air. I wish I could get good shots like you – these are the best I’ve gotten and they’re pretty pathetic.
And this video of the female or maybe one of the juveniles – please excuse our excited talking. We thought it was coming for our little dog.
Very cool! Definitely want to keep little dogs close when eagles are around!
I know this is a late post, but we saw a bald eagle, pair of golden eagles, ospreys, mountain bluebirds (flashy!), great blue herons, and western grebes this weekend on a camping trip to Phillips Lake, Oregon. Was not expecting any of that, so it was an absolute blast, in addition to the other fun stuff we did (trail run, paddle boarding, hiking with the dogs, camp food + wine/cheese tasting)!
Thanks again, @Loveshaq, for doing the bird posts. Definitely inspired me to take the binocs this weekend, and I’m grateful that I did that!
@memeweaver , that sounds like an amazing trip. I’ve never been that far east in Oregon but looks cool.
I’m super happy that someone enjoys these posts. Never know if people like them or just tolerate my posts.
Definitely keep my eye out for the bird posts, @Loveshaq. And would highly recommend the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest for outdoor stuff. Have taken SUPs to a couple different lakes in the NF, and have had a great time. Obviously the birding is another attraction.