Posts in Category: Eagle

Maine! Bye

Bald Eagle: York County, Maine, USA, February 2024 — I was surprised to find our local Eagle pair on their perch in the tall pine on the other side of the river late one afternoon. The sun was behind them and they were deep in the shadow of the pine. Still you have to try. Both sat for me for a few seconds after I saw them, but then one decided it was time to go. Not a perfect shot, but the best I could manage in the situation. OM Systems OM-1 Mkii with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Maine! Air show

Bald Eagles: York County, Maine, USA, February 2024 — I have seen this action in photos, and in a video or two on YouTube, but I never expected to see it through my viewfinder. I was taking photos from a great distance of this interaction between 3 immature or sub-adult Bald Eagles squabbling over a perch in the dead top of a tall pine when Eagle number 3 was doing a close pass, when Eagle number 2 suddenly flipped over in mid-air and they did the “show me your talons” thing. From the size difference in the two birds I am thinking this is a male and s female…the female below and the male above. I know it looks so unlikely that you might suspect photoshop or some kind of AI generated image…but I assure you these are real Eagles acting like real Eagles. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent (cropped considerably). Program mode with my birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomatic and assembled in FrameMagic.

Maine! Sunday gift

Immature or Sub-adult Bald Eagles: York County, Maine, USA, February 2024 — I went for what is becoming my customary Sunday morning photoprowl, visiting our local park along the river and then the river mouth and the marshes behind the dunes where it meets the sea. I am generally pleasantly surprised by something…and yesterday it was an immature or sub-adult Bald Eagle that came, chased by noisy crows, and settled in the dead top of a far pine. I took some shots from where I stood, but then began to walk closer. I was still a long way off when, again, surprise, a second and a third sub-adult eagle flew in from behind the first and attempted to dislodge it from its perch. Nothing doing. The first eagle was not budging and the second never really got settled before the third was on them both. After some interesting areal maneuvers, which I will share tomorrow, all three Eagles flew off, far out over the marsh, where one settled into a tree even further away. On my way out I found the other two in a tree on a rise of the farm fields. A surprise and a gift indeed. OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent (from way too far away). Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator. Shutter speed 1/1600th.

Maine! Unsettled

Bald Eagle: York County, Maine, USA, January 2024 — The Eagle was active the last time I visited it…flying between perches low over the water, up and down the river. It did not settle in one place for long. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Maine! Smile for the camera

Bald Eagle: York County, Maine, USA, January 2024 — Another shot of our local Eagle on a relatively low perch over the river…smiling for my camera 🙂 At least as close as a perpetually stern Bald Eagle gets to smiling. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and Apple Photos.

Maine! Eagle-eyed stare

Bald Eagle: York County, Maine, USA, January 2023 — The river was running fast and there were ice bells on every willow wand along the bank…just the fishing conditions an Eagle likes, and our local Eagle was still at it until almost noon yesterday. I almost missed the Eagle altogether as it was perched much closer to the water than usual. Once I found it I watched as it alternated perches up and down the river. If I were a fish I would not want to be caught in that stare. 🙂 OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and Apple Photos.

Maine! Flying Eagle again

Bald Eagle: York County, Maine, USA, January 2024 — Another from the flight sequence of one of the two Eagles who often sit in the tall trees on the far side one of our local rivers. Right place at the right time as the bird launched out and came right by me. OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixomator Pro.

Maine! Flying Eagle

Bald Eagle: York County, Maine, USA, January 2024 — We will pause our coverage of my December trip to Costa Rice for this local update. I went out yesterday, after finishing up clearing the drive, and resting for while, to photograph the fresh fallen snow, and check a few spots for birds. You never know if a Snowy Owl might have blown in on the storm. No owls, but our resident Eagle flew into one of its favored perches above the river while I parked the car, and sat for a few portrait shots before showing obvious signs of flight. I could not get my finger off the shutter release long enough to switch to my birds-in-flight mode…in hindsight I should have taken the half second it takes to do that when I first began to think the eagle was about to fly…but I didn’t. Next time. Still I got a few shots as the eagle passed in front of me fairly close. It is amazing how much bigger the bird looks in flight than it does sitting on a branch. OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. -0.7 EV. Processed in Pixomator Pro.

Maine! Eagle off home base

Bald Eagle: York County, Maine, USA, November 2023 — It is rare to see our local Eagle anywhere but in the tallest pine on the far side of the river, on his favorite branch, but one day last week he settled in a autumn oak closer to the water and closer to me. Still too far for the best photography, but better! Whatever he was doing in the second shot, it was not screaming…completely silent. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400 IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and Apple Photos.

Maine! Time for a pedicure?

Bald Eagle: York County, Maine, USA, November 2023 — Our local eagles spend most of their time, when they are hanging out in the pines above the river, just sitting upright and watching the water below them. I have hundreds of photos of them in that pose from previous years, and dozens already from this year. Occasionally they do something different, but you have to be on hand and ready when it happens. This shot was taken just after 11 am, and the light was already going around slightly behind the bird, making for interesting rim-light. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. -1.0EV. Converted to HDR and processed in Photomator.