I am blessed to live in an area in which Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) are present throughout most of the year. During the summer, however, my encounters have been pretty infrequent, so I was excited to spot this one on Monday while visiting Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I was looking for dragonflies that day and had a macro lens on my DSLR camera and I realized the eagle was too far away for me to capture a decent image.
It was precisely for situations like this that I also carry my Canon SX50 super-zoom camera. The resolution of this camera is not as good as that of my “big” camera, but it gives me a lot of reach. After I had zoomed in to take the first shot, I zoomed out and realized that there was a second bald eagle perched above the one I had just photographed. The second shot shows the relative positions of the two eagles.
I was hoping for better head positions for the two eagles, but they flew away shortly after I took the second shot. I have discovered that it is usually best to get a shot as early as possible in such encounters and then work to get a better shot. If I had waited for the “perfect” moment, I almost certainly would have come up empty-handed.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Great capture…
I love seeing the photos you get of the bald eagle, Mike. We have them around here, but they are in such a secluded spot that I rarely see them. Thanks for sharing yours.
Thanks, Dan. The area around the Potomac River has multiple sets of Bald Eagles. At Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, which I visit pretty often, there are usually two nesting pairs during breeding season and at times as many as a dozen or so eagles. Of course, seeing them is only half of the battle. My most frequent view of eagles is of them flying away from me. 🙂
It is so exciting when a second bird comes into our field of vision, isn’t it? I sure enjoyed these excellent photos of this majestic national bird. Mike. Good thing you did have that second lens along.
Thanks, Jet. It was actually a second camera that I had along. The SX50 is one of the superzoom “point and shoot” cameras that doesn’t let me change lens but does give me the 35mm equivalent view of 24-1200mm.
I like the framing on these two shots, Mike. Imagine if those Virginia creepers were in full fall color? Wow!
Nice Mike! Always fun to photograph Bald Eagles! And to see your images of them!
Nice images, Mike. Lucky you had your second camera!
Thanks, Chris. The alternative is carrying my big telephoto zoom lens with me all of the time, which I did for a while but found out I was not using it very much. The second camera is a lot lighter and more compact. 🙂
Yes it gets heavy! I am at a stage now when I am thinking I will eventually move to a Mirrorless kit – less bulk and much lighter, but for now the Canon 7DII and Tamron 18 to 400 multi purpose lens are still on duty! It’s all a compromise.
I am preparing for a three week long trip to Paris in November and am considering carefully how much gear I want to bring with me. (I plan to spend most of my time wandering the streets of what is arguably my favorite city.)
Wonderful!
Great capture of the Eagles together, Mike! And very exciting to find there were two. Hopefully you’ll get some more opportunities with them in that spot before you go jetting off for three weeks in Paris!