What a massive, amazing bird!

A friend and I were both out in the same general area photographing wildlife on Sunday when he shot me a message saying he had eyes on a very patient golden eagle. I immediately high-tailed it to the spot and was excited to see this majestic creature just patiently hanging out on a utility pole.

Both my friend and I got tons of shots of it posing as it watched the traffic go by. Eventually, it decided to relocate to another pole a ways away and I managed some nice shots as it took flight.

As I said in the opening line, this is an immature golden. You can tell by the white at the base of the tail and on some of the primary flight feathers. Those areas on an adult would be pale brown. You do get a nice feel for the huge seven-foot wingspan these raptors are known for.

Oh how I wish the light was golden like these birds’ heads on this morning a week ago. I happened across my favorite pair of golden eagles, the first sighting of them I have had in months.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature opted to bring in lots of clouds making for very dim lighting and tough shooting conditions, including 14-degree temperatures. Still, it was fun to get to see these massive, gorgeous raptors again, even if the pics are kinda cruddy.

The male was hanging out on one of their favorite perches, a pole on a hillside that allows them to survey their domain. The female was about a quarter mile away, choosing more natural perch as she watched over a field waiting to hunt.

Going back to my encounter with this handsome fellow and his mate last month.

The pair gave me some pretty danged cool captures, including this one of the male soon after he took flight for a quick hunting trip. You get a good look at those killer talons and his impressive six-plus foot wingspan.

One thing that amazes me about golden eagles is their hunting ability. Certainly, their normal diet consists of small mammals like rabbits and prairie dogs. However, they have been known to take on much larger prey like deer, goats and pronghorn.

In Mongolia, golden eagles have been trained and used to hunt for centuries. Like many ancient skills, the tradition is fading but there are still those that practice it and what they do is truly amazing. If you have time, you might want to check out this documentary about it.

Or perhaps I should say high wire?

I always joke that I can find an eagle anywhere but there is some truth to that. They are my passion and if I really put my mind to it, I can usually find at least one on a photo outing.

On this day last week, I wasn’t even trying though and we came across this handsome golden while at Sand Wash Basin in Colorado. It was perched on one of the view utility poles in the area, keeping watch for a meal.

There aren’t many people – or much of anything else – in the area so it was not inclined to hang around. After giving me a few poses from the front, it carefully rearranged to turn its back to me. Kind of a fun shot as it does look like it is going to try to walk a tightrope.

A capture from my encounter with this handsome fellow and his mate a couple of weeks ago. This was not long after I first spotted him in a roadside tree. He had given me a few poses then took off and hunted the adjacent field.

Look at those talons! Holy moly. Those could do some damage, eh?

These eagles are one of the largest and fastest raptors in North America. With wingspans that can exceed seven feet across and capable of speeds to 200mph, they are nothing short of impressive. It is little wonder that they are the most common official national animal in the world with Albania, Germany, Austria, Mexico, and Kazakhstan all choosing it to represent them.

Oh my, goodness! I so needed this photo encounter this past Sunday. I felt like I had been in a bit of a “photo funk” lately. With the virus I had been limiting where I was going for pictures and I was getting burnt out on photographing the same stuff over and over.

On this day I went to an area I frequent in Boulder County, Colorado and almost didn’t go to this particular spot as I hadn’t seen my golden friends in quite a while. I decided to give it a shot anyway and thank goodness I did.

When I arrived, the male was hanging out in their favorite tree and he gave me some good poses, a nice launch and a flyby. He then went and perched on a pole on a hillside they like so I followed. Soon after, his mate, pictured here, showed up!

She tried to knock him off his perch and when that didn’t work, gave a beautiful flyby and then landed on the pole nearest to me. Wow! My heart pounded with excitement at the opportunity and I furiously squeezed my camera trigger.

In the end, the pair gave me some fantastic shots over an hour’s timespan, some of the best golden eagle captures I have ever gotten. The encounter was just what I needed to shake off the cobwebs and renew my photographic soul. When they left for their home on the mountainside, I made sure to tell them, “thank you.”

It has been since February that I last saw the golden eagles at this spot in Boulder County, Colorado. I had just about given up hope, thinking they had moved on. Two weekends ago I finally saw them again and then again this past weekend.

As always, it was pretty uncooperative when it came to pictures, hanging out well-buried within a tree’s branches initially. After an hour it took flight, naturally at an angle that prevented me getting pics. It did then roost for a few minutes on top of a utility pole giving me a few more poses though.

Hopefully it will continue to hang out in this spot and I will get more photo ops with it.

An absolutely impressive and stunning creature! The golden eagle is the largest bird of prey in North America and one of the largest worldwide. I love bald eagles as everyone knows but golden eagles, my goodness, they are, dare I say, just a bit more impressive.

This one, Aurora, is a captive bird that suffered a broken wing. While it can fly, it can’t get lift and as such isn’t a candidate for release in the wild and is now in the care of Nature’s Educators.

An event at their facility gave me a great opportunity to get up close and personal and get some nice closeups. It also gave me a nice chance to use my Tamron Lenses USA SP 70-200mm F/2.8 Di VC USD G2 which I love for the amazing detail it allows me to capture.

Ah yes, it is the day for lovers and this pair was getting started a bit early this past Sunday.

The images of the activity are, quite frankly, pretty poor and I was very disappointed in them. Light was very low, there was a lot of haze / fog and the eagles were just too far off. Nevertheless, I share them because it was a very fun encounter and something I had not witnessed with goldens before. I suspect very few people have in fact.

When I arrived at this spot in the Colorado foothills, the make was perched alone and on a different post. Not two minutes later, she arrived, circling him twice then landing on the other pole. That, apparently, was all the invitation he needed. They mated twice over the next few hours.

The first image in this series is from the first time and the poorest quality pic. However, the symmetry of their positions is pretty neat and something I was happy to have captured. The rest of the images are from their second attempt when lighting was slightly better.