Golden Eagles

Gallery: AvianPosted July 4, 20171,088 views9 comments

About a month ago I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to photograph these birds from the safety of the car. Usually I am not that interested in photographing nests, but this one was built on the side of the road and the birds had no problem with the car being there for a few minutes. The mom had grown used to the presence of cars after nesting in this same spot for some years. In fact, right after this feeding they all fell asleep and probably had a nice, long nap. I didn't stick around much for the sleeping part.

Nikon D4
600mm FL
1/250
f8
iso 800
-.67

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on July 4, 2017 at 3:50 PM

Wow, what an amazing opportunity. Beautiful bird with adorable chicks. Really nice image. Glad you were able to take advantage of this marvel of nature.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on July 4, 2017 at 6:26 PM

That's quite the opportunity. I hope they are safe there from other people who don't appreciate this.

Nice technicals. I'm surprised the natural light is that good under that overhanging rock ceiling.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on July 4, 2017 at 8:08 PM

What a cool opportunity, Charlie, and you took excellent advantage of it. I'd probably take a bit off the bottom as it's just more nest, but it's a beautiful image either way.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Shirley Freeman on July 4, 2017 at 8:37 PM

Wow is right, Charlie! Excellent image of this family. What an opportunity.

Registered on May 27, 2017, 77 Posts, 844 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on July 4, 2017 at 10:26 PM

Hi Charlie,

Excellent opportunity and you were rewarded very well. The poses are nice and she is feeding them with great care and precision. Well done...................Jim

Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on July 4, 2017 at 11:50 PM

Pretty special to be able to witness this from a vehicle without disturbing the eagles. Great job capturing some family interaction.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on July 5, 2017 at 5:22 PM

You took good advantage of a great opportunity. Interesting place to build a nest. You did a good job with the lighting and the composition is pleasing.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hansen on July 5, 2017 at 11:35 PM

Great image of these golden eagles Charlie. Brings back a lot of memories for me. Back in my biologist days (70's and 80's) I was involved in golden eagle studies in Wyoming for a number of years. Great that you found a nest whose inhabitants became habituated to auto traffic. I remember a nest in Central Wyoming, on a cliff like this, that had a heavily used dirt road directly below it and an active oil pumper directly across the road. Those birds couldn't have cared less about the activity. Magnificent birds and wonderful capture you have made here.

Registered on May 5, 2011, 161 Posts, 908 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on July 7, 2017 at 4:44 AM

Awesome Capture of this photogenic family Charlie!!!

You took excellent advantage of such a rare opportunity! Wonderful details and sweet feeding behavior!

Sweet One devil

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments