Last week we were blessed with a couple of days with sunshine and blue skies, a nice change to our endless diet of dreary winter days. The weather lifted my spirits and multiple sights of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) last Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge raised them even higher.
The Bald Eagle in the first image was initially facing away from me as I moved toward it. Somehow, though, it sensed my presence and turned its head to glare down at me. As you may be able to tell from the angle of the shot, I was almost directly below the eagle.
In the second image, the eagle was farther away. If you look closely at the eagle’s talons, you will note that the eagle is holding onto the branch with a single foot. It looked to me like the eagle had tucked the other foot up under its fluffed-up feathers, presumably for warmth.
The final shot shows the large nest at the wildlife refuge. I have yet to see the eagle couple working on the nest, but both members were in the vicinity of the nest on this day, including the one int he photo.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Nice work, Mike.
Thanks, Dan. As I have mentioned multiple times, it is always a thrill for me to see and photograph bald eagles.
It always amazes me as to how serious Bald Eagles look, leaving me to wonder if they ARE serious, or, is it just a plastered on look! Peraps they are internally tired of hanging around all day! Maybe they’re humming a happy tune to them selves, but are too vain to show any playful expressions. Nice Pics.! M:-)
Thanks. An eagle with a playful expression? I smile when I think about such an outlandish idea. Perhaps they always feel the weighty responsibility of being a national symbol or maybe, as you suggest, they become bored. 🙂
Mike, You may want to follow this site —
https://swkrullimaging.com/2021/01/10/barr-lake-eagles/
Thanks for the recommendation, kenne. His eagle shots are amazing and I am following him now.
Liked the look in the first picture!
Thanks, Maria. I always like it when I have the feeling that my subject is looking right at me.
Nice Eagle Images Mike! Always enjoy seeing your Eagle Images!
They certainly do glare, don’t they!
Nice sightings and captures, Mike! I like your last image showing the nest, interesting how out in the open it appears to be. And big!
I agree about this diet of dreary winter weather—I’ve had enough and it’s still January!
Thanks, Ellen. It is definitely a big nest. It looks like it is out in the open, but is hidden enough that when there are leaves on the trees it is quite difficult to see–it looks pretty stark in the winter.
Majestic. We saw a golden eagle flying around our neighborhood the other day. I said to my wife, “every neighborhood should have an eagle.“
Quite majestic!
Nice shots of thos eagles, any idea when they will start to bread ?
I think that they should be nesting in the next month or so. With the nest that I pictured, it is so high up and so deep that it is hard to tell when an eagle is actually sitting on the nest.
Beautiful Shots, Mike! Well done!
Thanks, Tony.
Wicked-looking talons.
Okay, I have to ask, did you pray for a spotlight on that eagle? You certainly got one!! Gorgeous.
Thanks, Molly. I did not pray for that spotlight–it was more like a moment of grace, getting an undeserved and unasked for blessing.
[…] that I have featured multiple times in this blog, most recently in a posting on 18 January entitled Eagles in the sunlight. This past Monday, both members of the eagle couple were working on the nest and I was thrilled to […]