Last Thursday I spent some time observing a juvenile Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge that, judging from the coloration of its plumage, I guessed was about a year old. The eagle unexpectedly dropped to water level and I saw a small splash, suggesting to me that it had caught a fish. I snapped off a couple of quick shots as the eagle took to the air, hoping to capture an image of the eagle and the fish. I was so far away, though, that I doubted that I had captured an in-focus shot of the action.
When I later reviewed my photos on my computer, I was shocked to discover that the eagle had dropped the fish and that a couple of my photos actually showed the fish in mid-air. Perhaps the eagle was inexperienced at fishing or was distracted by some of the other eagles in the area. Whatever the case, the eagle did not yet seem aware that it had lost the fish when I captured the first image. A split second later, the eagle looked down and saw the falling fish that, alas, it was unable to recover.
Like most other fishermen, this eagle now has a story to share with his friends of “the one that got away.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 