Whenever I walk the trails parallel to the water at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge I try to stay alert, because I never know when a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) will come zooming by, as this one did last week.
I had my camera already set to relatively appropriate settings and my biggest challenge was to acquire the eagle in my viewfinder before it flew out of sight. I was fortunate that the eagle was flying on a level plane, so I did not have to worry about having to zoom the lens in or out. I took a burst of shots and the image below was the one that I liked the best, primarily because of the wing position and the catch light in the eye.
Each opportunity to photograph a bird in flight is unique. I never know when circumstances will work together to permit me to capture a good in-flight image, but it feels almost magical when somehow I do.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
That’s a great photo, Mike. Very well done.
Nice shot, such a thing of beauty.
I try to never pass up a bird in flight opportunity. I don’t always get good photographs but practice always helps 😀😀
Awesome in-flight eagle photo!
Wonderfully crisp capture, Mike! Nice catch on the eye and I always smile to see their feet tucked up like that.
Beautiful shot, Mike!
Thanks, Patty Anne.
That is an amazing shot! Certainly someone in America wants to purchase that photo! 😉
Thanks for your encouraging words, Molly. As is usually the case, I am pretty content with this shot, but know that I can do even better. That’s what motivates wildlife photographers like me to go out again and again to the same places, often photographing the same subjects.
Very Nice Mike! Always nice to see Eagles flying. But I think it is even better to photograph them flying! We are planning a trip down to Florida in the Spring and are planning to stop by Occoquan Bay NWR. We enjoy seeing your images from there!