I'm not a bird watcher. Never had any interest. I will, however, sit for two hours watching Bald Eagles. I've been lucky enough to be introduced to a few places where they can be seen - on the condition that I don't reveal the location.
On Saturday, I got a chance to see a mother feeding her babies in the nest, while the father perched about 100 yards away. A friend loaned me a 400mm lens, and I shot the baby shots on a tripod, in manual focus mode. I couldn't believe I was getting to watch what I was seeing. I could even see the babies getting fed by the mother!
Thanks to the friends that made these shots possible. It was an amazing day.
Mother and children...
Feeding time.
I think what's so amazing about this - is that we've never had Bald Eagles in New England before. I have family in Washington state- and it's such a common sight there, it's no big thing for them to see them. It's a thrill for me! There is no equal to the Bald Eagle! The wing span of this mother is 7 FEET WIDE!!! And to watch her feed the babies was a huge thrill....
Dad leaves his perch to head back to the nest...
The male Bald Eagle is smaller than the female. Still, this wingspn is impressive when it flies by you. It's probably 5 ft in width. I took this shot without a tripod, as the bird swooped down out of the tree and flew right to left. For me, it's not a good shot unless you can clearly see the eyes. The details in the feathers are a huge bonus...
This is a lucky shot. Panning right to left, just as he went behind some branches - I got lucky to catch him.
After Dad checks on Mom and the kids, he's off to hunt again.
This is just 6 of the 194 shots I took. As I rode home on the Harley - all I could think was that if ONE came out well - my day would be made.
Thankfully, one did, and it was.
