This is definitely not Paris. Yesterday, less than 24 hours after my return from my stay in Paris, I was back on the trails at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, one of my favorite places to photograph wildlife.
It was a cloudy, blustery day and there was not a lot of wildlife active, but I did manage to capture this shot of a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). From a distance, I spotted the top of the eagle’s head as it hunkered down in a nest, presumably seeking shelter from the wind. Although I was a pretty far away, it spotted me and quickly took to the air. My vision is really good after my cataract removal surgery a couple of years ago, but when it comes to being “eagle-eyed,” I am no match for the real thing.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
From that angle its wings look particularly huge!
Adult Bald Eagles have a wing span of about 79 to 90 inches (200 to 230 cm) and this angle gives you a real sense of how massive those wings really are.
Nothing says welcome home like a Bald Eagle. 🙂
Until I saw the eagle, I though I was going to have to be content with photos of a woodpecker and a sparrow. As you know well, Steve, wildlife photography is unpredictable–you never know what you might or might not see.
Very true…even for dragonflies. 🙂 Although I generally leave home with an idea of where I am going and why, I keep an open mind for the very reason you mention. Not just for wildlife but one never knows what flower may be blooming, how much fog might be on the land, or even what the light might have to offer. I guess one could say that it is the thrill of the hunt.
That is absolutely the case. If you have are too focused on a particular subject and goal-oriented, it is easy to get disappointed. When I am open to possibilities, I generally find something of interest to photograph–nature has a never-ending bounty.
Good to see lounging around the streets of Paris didn’t affect your timing, Mike. That’s a great shot. Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks, Dan. I was shooting every day, so my timing wasn’t an issue. The thing that got messed up was my muscle memory with my camera. I used a different camera daily for three weeks in Paris with different dials and settings and I had to relearn some things on my “normal” camera that I have used for years (like quickly changing exposure compensation). In fact it was a totally different setup–different camera, much bigger lens, and even a different memory card format (Compact Flash vs SD). Best wishes to you and whole family (including the entire menagerie of critters including the squirrels) for a wonderful Thanksgiving.
I remember your saying that you didn’t take you normal camera. I didn’t think about that adjustment. Enjoy the day.
Not a bad homecoming! Saw Midnight in Paris last night. The writing was clean and true and spoke of courage under fire from a pedantic know-it-all and a banal fiancée.
I started watching it again today–you’ve channeled your inner Hemingway in describing the movie. From opening sequence of scenes of different parts of Paris, the movie hooked me again, as it did when I first saw it years ago.
It hooked us too.
A great welcome home!
Thanks, Ellen. The eagle was a good reminder of how my “normal” life looks, but Paris is still very much within me.
Nice Mike! Welcome home!
Thanks, Reed.
Back in the saddle again. 😉
Yeah, it felt a little strange, to tell the truth.
I imagine it’ll take a while. I call it ‘reverse’ culture shock. They say an hour a day for jet lag, so mind adjustment may be the same. The longer the time away, the longer the adjustment? It took me at least a month after spending 5 months in South America.
I figure out that I will be more or less adjusted by Saturday next week when I head off to Vienna, Austria for a week on a work trip. I am retired, but was asked to return for that week to help out on a project–it’s hard to say no to a trip to Europe. 🙂
Oh, I can imagine Vienna in December with Christmas markets, etc. is marvelous, if they give you enough free time that is. 🙂 Do you add a few extra personal days onto the trip?
That’s a very nice image.