When a Bald Eagle took off from a perch with its partially-eaten fish yesterday morning at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I didn’t zoom out fast enough to photograph its entire wingspan, but did manage to capture a rather fierce expression.
I spotted the eagle in the tree from a long way off and tried to approach it as quickly and cautiously as I could. The eagle was facing away from me and seemed to have its head pointing downward. Once I got a bit closer, I could see that the eagle was focused on eating a freshly-caught fish, which is why, I assume, it was not alert to my approach.
Every now and then, the eagle would look up from its late breakfast and do a survey of its surroundings, as you can see in the second photo. I think that it was during ones of these surveys that it spotted me. I was still a pretty good distance from the tree in which the eagle was perched, but I was standing at the edge of a wide path, so I was not exactly camouflaged,
Without any warning, the eagle took to the air, making sure to bring along the partially-consumed fish. I didn’t have much time to react, but was thrilled with the image that I was able to capture as the eagle zoomed toward me. I really like the eagle’s expression and the way that I was able to capture the white tail feathers.
I watched as the eagle flew to a distant perch, where it could finish its meal without further interruption,
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
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Mike Powell 