Wildlife, landscape and weather photography
Whew! A busy couple of days recently and I totally missed #FreedomFriday so here you go! 😉
This beautiful bald eagle gave me a nice display last weekend as it flew along the shoreline looking for a meal. It did find one but, unfortunately, way out on the water too far away for pictures. The pic gives a nice look at its six plus foot wide wingspan. Very impressive!
Oh my! This makes me blush! Okay, maybe not.
Two weekends ago on my visit to this eagle nest I was able to catch the pair of residents “in the act.” It’s not something you get to witness often so it was cool to be able to see.
Last weekend, she was dutifully sitting on the nest so it appears this activity was successful. Incubation for bald eagles is typically 35 days so going from last weekend, that should put hatching right around April 3rd. That is of course assuming all goes well – keep your fingers crossed.
This handsome fellow was quite active this past weekend on a visit to the nest. He did a few different flights around, keeping close watch on his home. Here, he returns and prepares to land.
Wings are out and back and, check out those extended legs and the talons! Impressive! You also will note the female is hanging out on the back side of the nest, just taking it easy.
I would expect I will have to pay them another visit this weekend. With any luck, she will be in the nest and sitting on eggs. Then the countdown begins.
Have a fantastic Freedom Friday!
Another from this nest where I hope to spend lots of time this spring.
This past weekend the pair hung out together for a little while before he decided it was time to go somewhere else. After leaping off a nearby branch, he gave a nice flyby of their home.
Last year this pair successfully fledged one eaglet and I am hoping for another great year for them.
A female bald eagle gives a male an earful after he returned to the next empty-handed. A bit of a belated Valentine’s Day post.
My photo day today didn’t start out so well having covered 120 miles and taken, literally, four pictures. As I got close to home I decided to check out my local bald eagle nest and I am glad I did!
It was lots of fun made all the more interesting by the fact the male in this picture isn’t the female’s mate!
When I arrived, there was a different male and he left after a half hour or so. Not long after that, this male arrived. She was not happy!
The female spent the next 15 minutes squawking at the interloper until he finally left. Later on, both males had a bit of an aerial battle, unfortunately too far away for me to get pics of.
No insult at all to my wife with this picture. 😉 This image of this bald eagle from this past weekend reminds me of one of the very first dates I went on with my wife.
We are eating dinner and I was so captivated by her beauty (this is where her eyes roll), I kept watching her. She explained that she preferred it if I did not watch her eat and was getting annoyed with me.
That of course meant I had to keep doing it, right? That didn’t go over so well and her solution?
Open her mouth and say “ahhh” with a big mouthful of food! I knew right then that was the woman for me! 😀
On Saturday, I figure this bald eagle was similarly annoyed to have me snapping pics of it as it ate its breakfast.
Certainly the focus for this weekend will largely be on the big game Sunday. Since my Broncos aren’t participating though, I am not particularly excited. Instead, I will be most interested in seeing what I can find to train my camera on.
I was flipping through photos last night and came across a nice series from the end of November that I hadn’t shared any images from. Taken southwest of Denver, Colorado, a pair of eagles were working on establishing a new nest.
Well, the female was working on it. The male opted to sit and watch.
After a while, he was ready to do something different and launched into the sky, giving me a nice series of him as he flew by which this is one of them. I love the aggressive pose and look on his face – just awesome.
As quitting time gets closer, I am ready to launch into the weekend much like he did the air on that chilly morning. TGIF, right? Have a great weekend, everyone!
One from a couple of days ago at a nearby open space. It was mid-afternoon so the light was horrendous but I think this is a fun shot.
I loved the look on the eagle’s face and its wing position as it prepares to land. I am sure it enjoyed its meal, but the fish was probably a bit less than thrilled with the situation it found itself in. 😀
Have a fantastic weekend, everyone. I know I am definitely saying TGIF!
It is always highly frustrating when you get yourself a nice afternoon snack and are looking forward to enjoying it when a noisy neighbor insists on interrupting you. Such was the case with this bald eagle and crow the other day.
I was on my way home from work when I spotted this beautiful eagle at a nearby pond. It had caught itself a nice little fish and was trying to eat it in peace but as is often the case, a crow decided it did not appreciate the big raptor’s presence.
As the eagle ate, the crow raised a huge ruckus, occasionally even taking a leap at the eagle. The bigger bird was clearly perturbed by the annoying black bird but was able to finish its fishy snack and then even headed back out to catch another.
This was a very fun encounter and a nice way to end my day. This time of year is prime time for bald eagles on the Colorado Front Range and I am routinely seeing them as they prepare for their migration north in the coming months. Taken in Adams County, Colorado.
A cold start to this day back in December but these raptors didn’t mind. They opted to take in a gorgeous sunrise while sitting on the ice of a frozen lake. It was a pretty cool scene and it was hard to decide what to focus on – the eagles or the show on the sky above. This capture gets both.
