A bit of action from this past winter near my local bald eagle nest and a cool shot for Freedom Friday.

It was a crisp, cold February morning along the South Platte River as I hung out with my favorite pair of eagles. They spent much of the morning at the nest doing some housekeeping and, even took a break to mate for a bit.

When the male departed for a bit, a third eagle arrived at the nest and that set the stage for some excitement. The female began calling to her mate, not happy about the intruder. Soon the male returned and chased off the third eagle. He then went and perched across the river, confident he had taken care of the threat. That, however, was not the case.

The interloper returned, trying to share a perch with the nested male – something this image shows. As you can see, my resident friend was none too happy and raised a huge ruckus. Eventually, the other eagle left and peace was restored.

I am confident this intruding eagle is why the nest ended up failing. I would see the intruder a few more times, always insistent on disturbing the nested pair. This is a scenario that was seen at some other nesting spots here on the Colorado Front Range this past winter – an intruding eagle attempts to take over, causing issues. As their population continues to rebound, these types of things will probably become more common as the eagles fight for territory.

This was a bit of an interesting encounter this past weekend.

I was hiking in to my local bald eagle nest at dawn, just to check on the condition of it and see if the residents were around. Naturally, as I was almost there, I see the eagles flying down the river going to the opposite direction. That is pretty normal as they leave at dawn oftentimes.

I continued on, checked the nest, then worked my way back south toward where they headed. I end up spotting a pair of them on top of a high-tension power pole. It wasn’t a good spot for pics and, as I looked at the pics I was getting, I realized they were not my resident pair – one of these had a darker head, as if it was a bit young.

As I contemplated that and waited for them to hopefully give me some action, I look around and on the very next pole up the line is another pair of eagles! During the depth of winter that wouldn’t be all that unusual but this time of year it is as seasonal visitors haven’t arrived yet.

I checked out this second pair and am pretty sure they were my friends from up river. The two pairs didn’t really do much although it seemed they weren’t happy with each other being so close as they did make a racket, as seen here.

The fact there were two pairs in the same area is very interesting to me. Is there a second nest in the area that I don’t know of? Is one of those in that second pair the one that hassled my favorites this spring and possibly led to the nest failure?

I always call Fridays that I share a bald eagle pic “Freedom Friday.” This Friday is also Patriot Day, the 19th anniversary of 9/11, making that all the more significant and a reminder that they aren’t just merely words.

It is hard to believe it has been that long since that devastating day but the memories and pain are still so fresh in my mind and heart. A couple years ago on the anniversary I wrote the passage below. It seems fitting today as well:

“Certainly, September 11, 2001 will be remembered as one of the saddest days in our history but it is my sincerest wish that it will also be remembered as one of this country’s proudest. We stood together then, as the truly United States of America.

“Perhaps now, when we seem so divided, it would be wise to step back and remember how on that day and the immediate days that follow, we were not left, not right, not black, not white. We were Americans. Indeed, we still are. Remember that and honor the fallen.”

This handsome fellow was quick to take flight after his bride gave a flyby on her way to a different perch. He, of course, opted to join her and spend a quiet morning alongside the lake.

This image was taken toward the beginning of July, the last time I had any sort of quality time with my favorite form of wildlife. As the heat of summer winds down and cooler temperatures return, we will start to see the local population of bald eagles gradually increase.

While I don’t relish the cold to come, I do look forward to the time spent photographing these majestic creatures.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

I don’t imagine too many folks are starting out the day today with as much energy and vigor as this eagle is showing. Certainly I know I do not on most Mondays. 😉

This is another shot of the male of a pair of bald eagles that I got to spend some quality time with a few weeks ago. He put on a nice show, including this launch.

Holy moly! Quite an amazing flyby this handsome fellow gave me and a perfect image for Freedom Friday.

As the sun came up I was watching him as he surveyed the lake from an adjacent tree. Just as the sun was popping over the horizon, he decided to go for a quick tour and departed. I was bummed he left so early and I decided I should wait and watch to see if by chance he would return.

Sure enough, after scouting the far side of the lake, he started flying back and returned to his original perch. As he came by, I grabbed a fantastic series of him lit up in the golden light of the rising sun. Just awesome!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Normally backlighting is not desirable in photography and certainly I probably would have preferred direct lighting for this shot but I actually kind of like how it turned out.

The subtle, rim of light on the leading edge of the eagle’s head, chest, wings and tail provide some interest to the shadowed figure.

This is the same eagle I posted a picture of this morning as it returned from a quick tour of the lake.

Finally! It had been a while since I had a quality photo session with my favorite subject, the bald eagle.

This past Sunday I was intent on fixing that and headed to northern Colorado and one of the spots I have my best luck and a pair of eagles that I have photographed many times.

Arriving at the lake near their nest, the male was sitting in his favorite spot, just keeping watch. I spent a good bit of time photographing him before he relocated to another tree, with me following of course.

After a while, the female did a flyby, going to the original perch. He, of course, wanted to join his mate and took off after her, this being an image of him as he flew by at close range.

The lighting was near perfect and I was able to capture some of the exquisite detail of his plumage from the white head back and across those massive wings. In the end the pair gave me tons of poses and a few launches and flybys yielding some very nice images – and giving me my bald eagle fix for a little while.

Of course my picture for the day had to be of the bald eagle, our national emblem. 😉

It has been 244 years since we declared our freedom from an oppressive king and began a new experiment in governance. The journey since that day has not been easy nor has it been perfect but I do believe we have the privilege of living in the greatest nation on the face of this earth.

Someone once said, there is far more that unites us than divides us and even in times like these that is true.

When politicians of all ilk, extremists and the media seek to sow the seeds of dissension between us, we need to remember we are all brothers and sisters, we are all Americans. We the people make up the fabric of this nation and it is up to us to not let anyone tear it or us apart.

A bit of a throwback image to Leap Day.

It was a chilly morning but I made my way to my local bald eagle nest for some quality time with the mated pair that lives there. They had been busy working on the nest, preparing for mating season and hopefully little ones.

Alas, the nest ended up failing, I suspect due to a competing male bald eagle that harassed them quite a bit. This past season that is a story that I heard from a few other eagle nest watchers here on the Colorado Front Range. Speculation is that as bald eagle populations continue to rebound, the increased numbers bring increased competition for nesting sites and mates.

It was very disheartening to have this happen but I still see the pair in the area every now and then and am hopeful they will give it another shot this winter.