A laughing Bald Eagle? Nah, not really. It in fact was yawning but taking a single image of the action does make it appear like he was having a good laugh. Sometimes these amazing raptors are very animated and such was the case of this guy. For more than two hours he posed for me giving every look imaginable. Definitely a treat for the photographer.
Bald Eagle maneuvers toward its target
It is Freedom Friday and for today’s image I’ve selected one of my favorites from this past winter. This adult Bald Eagle in Fort Collins, Colorado was closely watching a pond from a perch in a neighboring tree. After watching the water closely, it spied its target and launched itself at high speed. With one quick turn, seen here, it lined itself up and dove toward the water and snagged its catch.
In normal flight, these massive raptors cruise at about 30mph but when diving can reach speed up to 100mph!
Ooh that feels soooo good
A Bald Eagle rubs its head on its back while grooming itself. This male eagle spent the better part of an hour grooming itself and was extremely meticulous in doing so. I have seen them do this many times but this is the first time I saw one rub its head on its back – and he did so repeatedly. It was pretty comical to watch and he really seemed to enjoy it.
Taken May 2, 2015 in Longmont, Colorado.
Male Bald Eagle performs flyby
Freedom Friday! This gorgeous male provided me with an amazing morning recently. Most of his time was spent simply sitting and observing – probably just wanting to take a break from the wife and kids. 😉 He did however feel the need to stretch his wings at one point and gave me a couple of nice flybys.
As a male, his wingspan was probably “only” about six feet across but impressive nevertheless. Females are larger and could have a span of up to 7 1/2 feet!?
Juvenile Bald Eagle enjoys a picnic on the plains
On the menu for this young Bald Eagle was Prairie Dog, a staple for these big raptors when in the area. While they typically prefer fish, here in Colorado water sources are not very plentiful. As a result, you are more likely to find them dining on Prairie Dogs, rabbits, ducks and geese as anything aquatic.
In this case, the eagle had found a Prairie Dog colony that gave up one of its residents to satisfy the bird’s hunger. I arrived soon after it made the kill and was able to observe it devouring the rodent, something which it did in a few short minutes. ?
Scroll down to view the complete gallery of images of this gorgeous young raptor.
Some serious fishing hooks
The talons on a Bald #Eagle are absolutely impressive. On males (like this bird here) they can be 1 1/4 inches long while on females they can be up to 2 inches long. The talons are made of keratin, just like a human’s fingernails and are similar in composition to dog’s nails. In addition to the sharp talons, the bumps on the toes of the eagle help it to hold on to the slippery fish they typically eat. Throw in a grip that is 10 times stronger than that of humans and you have some the makings of a very impressive hunting machine. Image taken in Longmont, Colorado.
Juvenile Bald Eagle takes flight for Freedom Friday
I captured this image of this fabulous three year old this past Sunday in an area near Denver International Airport. While I love the image, I am equally fascinated about the story of this specific eagle.
In the picture you will notice the bands around its legs. These are often put on birds to help study migration patterns, behavior, life-span and more.
This bird was originally perched on a pole and posed for some nice sitting pictures in which I could read the text on one of the bands. I decided to try to see if I could learn more and while it took some effort, it was worth it.
I started with the Colorado Parks and Wildlife which led me to the USGS and finally to the USDA who was able to tell me the history of this gorgeous raptor.
It was trapped in May 2014 on the airport grounds and relocated to southern Colorado. It was banded at that time to help track it should it be spotted again. Raptors found near airports are oftentimes relocated to prevent ‘bird strikes’ with airplanes which of course are deadly for the bird but also endanger the planes.
In this case, it appears the move didn’t do much to discourage it from hanging out near the airport as I initially spotted it within a half mile of the runways and took this pictures about two miles from them.
Get off my lawn!
A male Bald Eagle appears to be letting it be known he doesn’t care for paparazzi. In truth he just happened to be looking at me when he yawned, clearly bored by all the attention he was getting.
This past Saturday I was able to spend an amazing 2 1/2 hours with this handsome fellow in Longmont, Colorado . Here, at the initial spot I found him, there was only one spot where I could get a good view of him without a bunch of tree branches in the way. It resulted in an extreme angle but one that lent itself to some unique viewpoints.
Later he moved to a different spot that allowed for clearer viewing and more traditional images (see my post from this past Sunday). Perched in a busy suburban park, he ignored all the attention he was getting from the many people out enjoying a mild morning.
I consider myself very privileged to have spent so much time with him (and captured hundreds of pictures) as it isn’t often you find one of these majestic raptors that is so tolerant of people.
Fabulous posing Bald Eagle
It had been almost four weeks since I have been able to capture any quality pics of my favorite subject. Thankfully yesterday this handsome guy ended the drought.
I was intending to take pictures of Osprey but on the way took a quick detour hoping one of my favorites would be at a spot they frequent in the winter and sure enough, one was there. This male is one of a pair that has a nest not too far from where these pics were taken.
In all, I spent more than 2 1/2 hours with him capturing every pose imaginable. Scroll down to view the complete gallery of pics from the day.
Taken in Longmont, Colorado.
Adult and juvenile Bald Eagles search for fish
It’s Freedom Friday! An adult Bald Eagle circles around for another run at a pond full of fish as a juvenile passes.
Taken on February 7, 2015, this was one of three days in a row I spent watching a large number of these majestic raptors fish from a suburban pond in Fort Collins, Colorado . Whether adult or juvenile, these raptors are absolutely captivating to me. The experience I had on these days was second to none and easily ranks in one of my top five experiences with eagles.