Bald Eagle | Mike Powell

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Memorial Day 2023

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Abraham Lincoln, Alexandria VA, Bald Eagle, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm, Gettysburg Address, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Huntley Meadows Park, Memorial Day 2023, Rescue of a Bald Eagle on May 29, 2023| 7 Comments »

In the United States, today is Memorial Day, a federal holiday. For some people this day marks the unofficial beginning of summer, but for me, as someone who served for twenty years in the U.S Army, this day has a deeper meaning, a day to reflect on the lives of the brave men and women who died in the defense of this nation. Yesterday, Facebook reminded me of a posting I made on Memorial Day 2018, and I decided to share it again today in this blog posting.

“I was prompted this morning to read again the challenges to us in the Gettysburg Address, which seem so appropriate today as we remember the sacrifices of so many brave men and women. “It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” ”

For those of you who might be curious, the photo below is from a November 2014 blog posting entitled “Rescue of an injured Bald Eagle” that documented the capture of an injured eagle by an officer of the Fairfax County Animal Control Services at my local marshland park. Some of the photos from that posting were reprised in Washington D.C. media outlets and the posting has been my all-time most popular posting with 3472 views.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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An eaglet at last

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle nest, Canon 7D, eaglet, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on May 14, 2023| 1 Comment »

I patiently watched the large Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nest last Thursday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and eventually caught a glimpse of an eaglet. As some of you may recall, I have been keeping an eye on three eagle nests at this refuge and have already seen eaglets at the other two nests. This nest is significantly larger than the other two nests, as you can see in the second photo, and it is difficult to see activity in the nest.

I was zoomed in as close as I could with my telephoto lens and still had to crop the image in the first photo quite a bit so you can see the eaglet with its open mouth—I suspect it wanted to be fed. As you can see, one of the parents was in the nest with the eaglet and the other parent was perched in a nearby tree. It is possible that there are more eaglets in the nest, but I was really happy to spot one.

In case you are curious, I did not have my longest telephoto lens with me that day. Normally I use my Tamron 150-600mm lens when I know that I will be photographing birds. I was anticipating that I would be focusing on both large and small creatures, so I was using my Tamron 18-400mm lens on this occasion. This lens gives me a great deal of flexibility in photographing dragonflies as well as birds and in capturing landscape shots like the shot of the nest—I was standing in the same spot for both photos in this blog posting.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Looking at you looking at me

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle nest, Canon 7D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on May 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »

As I was observing a large nest last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I couldn’t help but notice that the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in the nest was keeping an eye on me. The eagle seemed to be observing me through a gap in the branches at the top of the nest, as you can see in the first two photos.

After getting a few shots, I continued walking down the trail. When I looked back towards the nest, I could see the eagle’s head poking out of the top of the nest and it still seemed to be watching me.

As you can tell from the final photo, this is a really large nest and it is hard to monitor what is going on inside of it. Are there any eaglets yet? In two other nests at the refuge, I have already seen eaglets, but those nests were much smaller, so it was not hard to spot the babies. I’ll continue to monitor this nest and with a little luck I will see an eaglet or two in this large nest.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eaglet tests its wings

Posted in Photography, Birds, Nature, wildlife, spring, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle nest, Canon 7D, eaglet, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on May 7, 2023| 2 Comments »

This juvenile Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) may not be quite ready to fly, but it was testing out its wings by flapping them vigorously while I was observing the nest on Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The eaglet is so large that there is no longer any room in the small nest for its parents—one of its parents was perched on a higher branch in the same sycamore tree.

A few weeks ago, I observed two eaglets in this nest and I have not had a good look at both eaglets since that time. Has something happened to the other eaglet? When I looked closely at all of my photos, I noticed that I could see the silhouettes of both eaglets sitting side by side in some of the images, as you can see in the final photo. The eagle on the left seems much smaller than the one on the right, which was the one that was flapping its wings in the first two photos.

The foliage in the tree and the barrier across the trail keep me from seeing any better what is happening in this eagle nest, but it looks like the eaglets are growing bigger and stronger, especially the one on the right. It should not be too long before it is time for the eaglet to be making its first tentative attempts at flight.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Impassive eagle

Posted in aircraft, Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle nest, Canon 7D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on April 29, 2023| 8 Comments »

This Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) remained steadfastly on guard above its large nest on Wednesday at Occoquan National Wildlife Refuge as a jet flew by in the distance. As I was focusing on the eagle, I caught sight of the jet out of the corner of the eye and managed to time the shot pretty well to be able to include the jet in the frame.

Normally I do not like to include man-made objects in my wildlife photos, but in this case I really like the juxtaposition between the wildness of a bald eagle’s flight and the more “civilized” human flight.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eaglet update

Posted in Baby photography, Bees, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle babies, bald eagle nest, Canon 7D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on April 28, 2023| 6 Comments »

On Wednesday I visited Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge to check on the eaglets in the nests there. As the leaves continue to grow, it is becoming harder and harder to observe activity at several of the nests of the Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). In one of them, though, I managed to find a small visual tunnel and was fortunate to capture the first two images that show some sweet little moments between an eaglet and one of its parents.

The third image shows an eaglet in a different nest. As you can see, the leaves on the sycamore tree hid most of the nest. Previously I spotted two eaglets in this nest, so there may be another hiding out of view.

The final two shots shows the largest eagle nest at the refuge. The nest is so big and so high in the trees that it is difficult to tell what is going on inside of the nest. One eagle was keeping watch and the other adult appears to be in the nest. If you look closely at the nest right below the tree on which the eagle is perched, you can just make out the yellow beak of an adult eagle. The final image is a close-up shot of the nest that I cropped to show more clearly the eagle’s beak. The adult eagle is perched so high in the nest that it is possible that there is an eaglet or two in the nest as well—when an eagle is incubating eggs it tend to hunker down really low to keep the eggs warm.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Two little eaglets

Posted in Baby photography, Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Tamron 150-600mm, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Woodbridge VA, bald eagle nest, bald eagle babies, eaglets, Canon 7D on April 21, 2023| 5 Comments »

On Tuesday I hiked to the farthest Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nest at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, hoping to determine if there were any eaglets in the nest. During most of the year you can walk past this nest as part of a big loop, but the road is now blocked to protect the eagles, so you have to double back along the trail (a distance of almost two miles (3.2 km) to return to the parking lot.

This eagle nest is in a sycamore tree. Several years ago, one of the limbs gave way and during the off-season almost half of the nest slid to the ground. The eagles have done some repairs each year, but the nest is still relatively small. At this time of the year, there is a good deal of new foliage, so it is a bit difficult to see what is going on in the nest.

When I arrived at the nest, I noticed that one of the adults was sitting completely upright, which was a good sign. When the eagles are incubating the eggs, the tend to hunker down in the nest, with only their heads visible.

As I watched and waited, the adult eagle flew to some higher branches in the tree. My flow of adrenaline and sense of anticipation increased as I waited to see if an eaglet would appear. I was double delighted when two little heads popped up. The eaglet on the left seemed to be a bit bigger than its sibling and was probably the older of the two. In the second image, the bigger eaglet is looking upwards toward the branch where the adult was perched.

I was a long way off when I took these photos with my telephoto zoom lens, so they are not super quality images, but they provide proof that there are at least two little eaglets in this nest. As I noted in an earlier post, there is one eaglet in another nest on the refuge. The third active eagle nest is so large and high up in the trees that it is not yet possible to tell if there are any eagle babies in it—any eaglets will probably have to grow stronger and larger before the climb up to the the edge of that nest.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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The eaglet has landed

Posted in Photography, Birds, Nature, wildlife, spring, Baby photography, tagged Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Tamron 150-600mm, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Woodbridge VA, eaglet, baby eagle, Canon 7D on April 19, 2023| 7 Comments »

I was delighted yesterday to photograph an eaglet in one of the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nests at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Last week, several photographers posted photos in Facebook of the baby eagle, so I knew for sure that there was at least one in the nest. I have been keeping a close eye on this nest, a small one that was used by ospreys last year, and knew that it would have trouble comfortably accommodating an adult eagle and a growing eaglet.

When I first arrived at the barrier that closes the trail, I could see through the foliage that an eagle was sitting upright in the nest, but I could not see an eaglet. I watched and waited and the eagle eventually flew away. A short time later, another eagle flew in and landed on a tree branch above the nest rather than in the nest. As the eagle approached the nest, a little head popped up and I was able to capture the first image.

The eagle in the tree kept watch over the curious little eaglet and I never did see the adult sit in the tree. After a while, the eaglet disappeared from sight—it was probably time for its afternoon nap.

When I departed the area to check on another eagle nest, the adult was still on duty in the tree. I passed by this nest one last time and noted that an eagle was now sitting in the nest. It may be that one of the parents is small enough to fit into the nest and the other one is simply too large. As the baby grows, I suspect that both parents will be forced out of the nest. I would not see the eaglet until the adult lifted its wing and I was able to capture the final image.

As you can probably see from the blotches of green in the photos, I did not have an unobstructed view of the nest. I am hoping that the leaves on the trees do not fully block my view in the upcoming weeks.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Osprey-Eagle Squabble

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 7D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 23, 2023| 13 Comments »

I am not sure what was going on Tuesday in the waters off of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, but two Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) were perched on a structure and an aggressive Osprey(Pandion haliaetus) kept dive-bombing them repeatedly. The osprey would fly by right above them and each time the eagles would rear up with their talons extended as they screamed at the osprey. I took the shot below from a long way away, but it gives you a sense of the action.

Several of my friends on Facebook suggested that this might have been a territorial dispute. Others posited that the eagles had stolen a fish from the osprey and the osprey was angry about it. Another friend provided a link to a fascinating article at Natural Habitat Adventures entitled “Eagles and Ospreys: When Birds of Prey Clash.” According to the article, eagles will sometimes steal osprey chicks and ospreys may attack eagles while they are eating. It is too early for there to be chicks—ospreys have only recently returned to our area—but it is certainly possible that this was a food fight.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eagle eyes

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, spring, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 7D, eagle eyes, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 18, 2023| 5 Comments »

When a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) looks directly at me, it feels really intense—there is a sense of ferocity and power in its glaring eyes. Normally I do not like eye-t0-eye photos of birds, because that direct angle causes their bills to look really strange. In this photo, though, I really like the way that the eagle’s beak looks and the way that the color of its beak matches the color of its feet. The sharpness of the beak also mirrors the sharpness of the eagle’s prominent talons.

I try to get as many different kinds of photos of eagle as I can, and this image has a different “feel” than most of my other images. There is a minimalism and starkness that really appeal to me and a very, but effective composition.

I really feel blessed that I get to see bald eagles so often when I visit Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, where I take most of the eagle shots that are featured in my blog postings.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Changing of the guard

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle nest, Canon 7D, changing of the guard, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 17, 2023| 6 Comments »

Most of the time I am an opportunistic photographer—I wander about and react to the the things that I see. During the nesting season of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), however, I will hangout at spots where I can observe the eagle nests.

The members of an eagle couple take turns sitting on the eggs, and I love to try to capture the changing of the guard, i.e. when one eagle switches off with the other one. Earlier this month, I observed such an exchange at one of the nests that I watch at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

The first photo shows the departing eagle. If you look closely behind the eagle, you will see some small twigs in the air that were dislodge during the takeoff. I had to look through a lot of vegetation to get a clear view of the nest and the dark smudges in the photo are branches that were partially blocking my vision—fortunately those branches were on the periphery of my composition.

The second photo shows the arriving eagle. The nest is so small that I don’t think it could hold both eagles at the same times, particularly when there are fragile eggs present.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Spread your wings and fly

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, birds in flight, Canon 7D, eagle in flight, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, soaring eagle, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 13, 2023| 2 Comments »

Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) have impressive wing spans, approximately 80.3 inches (204 cm), according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I was thrilled last week to capture some images of an eagle with its wings fully extended as it flew over me at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

The afternoon sunlight was pretty strong, which caused a shadow on the side of the eagle’s face, but I was happy that I was able to keep the visible eye in pretty sharp focus—you may want to click on the images to get a better look at the eagle’s eyes.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Coming in for a landing

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle nest, birds in flight, Canon 7D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, landing, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 12, 2023| 8 Comments »

Last Wednesday I watched as this Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) approached its nest to take the place of its mate, who had flown away a moment earlier. It would have been cooler if the eagle had been coming towards me when it landed, but I like the way that I was able to capture the wing, tail, and talon positions in the first two photos. In the final photo, the eagle had successfully landed at the large nest—the eagle’s head was initially in the shadows, so I was happy when it glanced over its shoulder in my direction and the sunlight hit its eye.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eagle grabs coot

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged American Coot, Bald Eagle, Canon 7D, coot, Fulica americana, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 11, 2023| 11 Comments »

Whenever I see a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in the air, I will try to track it through the lens of my camera. This past Wednesday I was tracking an eagle that was a long way from me at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The eagle was flying quite low, so I figured he was fishing.

I snapped the first photo shortly after the eagle dropped down to the water and grabbed what I thought was a fish. As you can see in the photo, the birds in the immediate area were quite agitated with the eagle flying just above them. When I examined the image on my computer, I realized that the eagle’s prey was probably an American Coot (Fulica americana), not a fish.

The eagle flew low over the water, probably to avoiding alerting any other eagles of its catch. As the eagle flew by me, I was able to capture the second and third images that clearly show the wings of the bird in the eagle’s talons.

The eagle landed in a small tree not far from the shore and proceed to feast on its freshly-caught meal. The bird was wedged in a crook in the tree that helped to steady the prey as the eagle dug into it. If you look closely at the eagle’s beak in the fourth photo, you can see bright red blood from the bird.

When the eagle had partially consumed its meal, it flew to another tree. In the final photo you can see the dangling feet of the prey. Unlike ducks that have webbed feet, coots have lobed feet with long toes and you can see some of those toes in the last image. If you would like to get a closer look at a coot’s feet, check out my December 2014 blog post entitled “Coot feet.”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Immature bald eagle

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 7D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, sub-adult, sub-adult bald eagle, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, Woodbridge VA on March 9, 2023| 7 Comments »

When Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) are born, they have brown heads, brown eyes, and a black beak. It takes about five years for them to develop the characteristic white head, pale eyes, and yellow beak that we associate with adult bald eagles. Certain changes take place each year and it is possible to estimate the age of immature bald eagle on the basis of its appearance.

I believe that the eagle depicted in the two two photos is about 3 1/2 years old. There is still a good deal of mottling in the feathers on its chest and some brown patches on its mostly white head. If you would like more detailed information about the developmental stages of bald eagles, I highly recommend an article by Avian Report entitled “Juvenile & Immature Bald Eagles.”

I do not see eagles of this age very often at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, where I took these photos last week. Most of the eagles that I see are adults or are a year or two younger than this one. From what I have read, eagles reach mating age at about the same time that they get their white heads and tails, so I doubt that this eagle has already found a mate—in human terms, I guess the eagle might be characterized as a teenager.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Taking over nesting responsibilities

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 7D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, nesting, Nesting bald eagle, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 7, 2023| 2 Comments »

It is hard to tell exactly when eggs are present in the nests of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). However, when I see an eagle hunkered down, it’s a pretty safe assumption that it is helping to incubate the eggs.

Last week, an eagle was sitting in one of the nests that I monitor at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. As I watched, it took off, and I captured some shots of the eagle flying away that I featured in a blog posting entitled “Eagles in flight.”

A short time later, another eagle flew to the nest and the photos below show the arrival of that eagle and its subsequent actions. The eagle carefully examined the nest, made a few adjustments, and eventually settled in for its shift of sitting on the eggs.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eagle couple in March

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, Bald Eagle couple, Canon 7D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 4, 2023| 3 Comments »

I spotted this Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) couple on Wednesday as they perched closely together in a dead tree at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. At this time of the year most eagle couples are nesting and one eagle is in the nest at all times. It therefore felt a little strange to see this couple together in the open.

The two eagles were looking at a small pile of sticks in a nearby tree that looked almost like the start of a nest. The tree, though, looked far too small to support the weight of an eagle nest.

There is a bit of mystery and uncertainty about what is going on in this photo, an effect that was heightened by the overcast skie, which gave the image a monochromatic look.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eagle in flight

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, Bald Eagle in flight, Canon 7D, flying bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 2, 2023| 2 Comments »

Yesterday I observed the “changing of the guard” at one of the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nests at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I was watching the nest and could see the white head of the eagle as it sat in the nest, when suddenly the eagle stood up and took off a few moments later. A short time later, the second eagle landed at the nest to take over nesting responsibilities.

I had a tricky time trying to track the departing eagle, because it flew among the trees initially. The three photos below show different wing positions that I was able to capture during the eagle’s flight. In the final photo, the eagle seems to be glancing in my direction. I thought I was pretty well-hidden by the vegetation, but an eagle’s vision is so sharp that it is quite possible that it could see me clearly.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Sitting on eggs?

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle nest, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Nesting bald eagle on February 27, 2023| 2 Comments »

Over the last few weeks I have been seeing a lot of activity around three Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nests at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This past week I finally observed eagles hunkered down in two of the nests, which suggests to me there may finally be eggs in those nests. The third nest is so large and deep that it is impossible to see if there is an eagle (or even two) inside, especially if it is sitting on eggs.

The two nests in the photos below are fairly small, so you can just see the the top of the white head of the eagles. In both cases I was quite far from the nest when I captured my shots, so I really had to look carefully to see if there were any eagles visible in the nests. With a little luck, I’ll see eaglets in those same nests in the upcoming months and maybe I will be fortunate enough to get a few shots of them.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Changing angles

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 7D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 21, 2023| 4 Comments »

Sometimes I am able to get shots of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) when they are perched in the open, but most of the time I have an obstructed view of the eagle when I first spot it. I will then move as slowly and carefully as I can to a spot from which I have a somewhat clearer view of my subject. From that spot I will lean and twist and bend in an effort to find a visual tunnel through which I can see at least the head of the eagle—it is ok for me if the body is blocked by vegetation, but I really want to see the eyes of the eagle.

When you initially look at the two images of the eagle below, you may think that the second one is simply a cropped version of the first one. If you examine the little branches more closely, you will see that I took them from two different shooting angles.

I was a bit farther away when I captured the first image and my goal was to frame the eagle with the larger branches. In the second image, I had moved a bit closer to the eagle and was showing upwards toward it. This second angle provides a somewhat more intimate portrait of the eagle as it is nestled in among the small branches and spiky balls of the sweetgum tree.

I know that I am going to have a limited number of encounters with eagles, so I try to make each one “count” by taking shots from as many different angles as possible, never knowing for sure which photos will have the most impact until I review them later on my computer screen.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eagle flight

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 7D, eagle in flight, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 20, 2023| 7 Comments »

My good luck with Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) this winter is continuing. Last Wednesday I was able to capture these images of an eagle in flight at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The eagle was flying from a nest to another perch and my camera was at my eye and ready as it flew by me.

I am pretty happy with these shots, but, of course, I’ll be returning to the refuge again and again with the hope of getting even better ones.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Juvenile eagles at play

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 7D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, juvenile Bald Eagle, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 17, 2023| 5 Comments »

Last Thursday I enjoyed watching some juvenile Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) chase each other around in the waters off of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. They were really far away, but I managed to capture this fun image of them in action, with some Bufflehead ducks in the foreground adding additional visual interest.

It is a little crazy to attempt such long-range shots. The images are not super sharp and the contrast is often lacking. If I were a professional, I’m pretty sure that I would not post images like this one that are not of the highest quality. However, I’m an amateur, which means that I don’t have to worry about reputation or marketablility—I feel free to post images that I judge to fun, cool, or interesting, like these shot of juvenile eagles at play.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Protecting nesting eagles

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, iPhone 11, nesting bald eagles, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Woodbridge VA on February 16, 2023| 2 Comments »

Recently I have featured a number of photos of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and their nests. Some of the photos make it look like I am close to the nests, but in fact I took the photos from quite a distance away with a telephoto zoom lens. In mid-December each year, the authorities at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge put up barriers to keep people from disturbing the nesting eagles.

The first photo below shows one of the barriers. The tallest tree to the left of the road is where the eagle nest is located. If you read yesterday’s posting entitled Three eagle nests, you make recognize the nest as the one in the sycamore tree in the third photo.

This year, a sign was posted at each of the barriers that explains the potential negative impact of the close presence of humans on the eagles. Hopefully these signs will help deter visitors from walking past the barriers. I have been told that in past years trespassers have in fact been apprehended and have paid hefty fines.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Three eagle nests

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle nest, Canon 7D, eagle nest, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 15, 2023| 1 Comment »

It is fascinating to compare the size and construction of these three Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nests that I photographed last Thursday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The first nest is by far the largest and is one that I feature quite regularly in my blog, including in yesterday’s posting. The second nest is new this year and, according to some fellow photographers, may be a converted osprey nest.

In recent months I have not seen any eagle activity at the nest in the sycamore tree in the third photo, so was not sure if it was being used this year. I was therefore delighted when I spotted a bald eagle in the nest last week and watched as its mate also flew in and they both perched on one of the branches of the tree. Although this nest was used in previous years, I believe that there were no eaglets born in it last year. It appears that one of the supporting branches for the nest broke off a year or so ago, dumping part of the nest, which was never very large, onto the ground.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Rising out of the nest

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle nest, Canon 7D, eagle takeoff, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 14, 2023| 6 Comments »

The sky was almost completely overcast last Thursday morning at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and looked almost white in my photos, making some of my shots look like they were taken in a studio. Still, the uncluttered backdrop helps to draw the viewers attention to these cool images of a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) as it took off from the very large eagle nest at the refuge. The final photo, taken with my iPhone a few days earlier, gives you an idea of the setting in which the nest is located—the photos make it look like I was a lot closer to the nest than I actually was.

I spotted eagles perched on or in three separate nests that day, a clear sign that nesting season is almost here. The fact that the eagles did not remain continuously in the nest suggests to me that they are not yet sitting on eggs. I will continue to monitor the nests and with a little luck I may be able to see some eaglets in the upcoming months.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Dropped fish

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle fishing, Canon 7D, dropped fish, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, juvenile Bald Eagle, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 12, 2023| 8 Comments »

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.

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Distant eagle nest

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle nest, Canon 7D, eagle takeoff, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 9, 2023| 1 Comment »

Whenever I am walking on the trails at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I am always on the lookout for Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). At this time of the year especially I keep my eyes for signs of new eagle nests. At the moment, I am aware of three nesting sites on the refuge, although I am not sure if all three are being used this year.

On Monday I spotted the bright white head of a mature Bald Eagle in a distant tree. As I trained my long telephoto lens on the eagle, I noticed that it was perched just above what looked to be a nest. I moved a bit further down the trail to get a somewhat less obstructed view of the nest and looked carefully to see if I could spot an eagle sitting in the nest.

Although I was standing quite still and was partially hidden from view by heavy vegetation, the eagle seemed to sense my presence and took off. I was happy to be able to capture a couple of shots of the eagle as it was flying away.

This may be another new nesting site or it may be a view of one of the newest nest from a different angle than I usually see it. Several roads at the refuge are not closed to protect the nesting eagles, so there is really only one nest that I can monitor closely—the very large nest that I have repeatedly featured in blog postings.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eagle couple in a sweetgum tree

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, Bald Eagle couple, Canon 7D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 5, 2023| 2 Comments »

Most of the times when I see a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) couple, one or more of the eagles is partially hidden from view. I spotted these two eagles in a sweetgum tree during a recent visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and was delighted to see that I had an unobstructed view of both of them. Equally important for me was the fact that they were both at approximately the same distance from me, which meant that I could get them both in focus.

The eagles were alert and appeared to be surveying the landscape. I do not know for sure, but I suspect that the eagle on the right is the female, which tend to be larger in size than the male counterparts.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Wings of an eagle

Posted in Birds, Nature, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle takeoff, Canon 7D, eagle takeoff, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 2, 2023| 6 Comments »

This Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was perched just above the large nest last Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I was ready when the eagle started to extend its wings, as you can see in the first photo, and managed to capture a series of shots during its takeoff. The images show a variety of the wing positions used by the eagle to lift off and fly forward.

The wings of the eagle were so long that when it extended them upwards, the tips were out of the frame—note that the eagle’s feet were still on the perch in the second photo. When the eagle extended its wings fully to the side and moved upwards into the air, I once again was not quick enough to zoom out and clipped the tips of one wing in the third shot. The final two photos show some additional positions of the wings as the eagle continued to move away from its perch.

The day when I captured these images was an unusually fruitful one for me. I had multiple encounters with eagles and came away with some pretty good shots. As most wildlife photographers are well aware, those kind of day are quite rare, so I was happy to take advantage of my good fortune when the opportunities arose.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Another eagle takeoff

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle takeoff, Canon 7D, eagle takeoff, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 1, 2023| 3 Comments »

I initially hesitated to post another sequence of shots of a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) takeoff, given that I posted a similar set of photos in yesterday’s blog posting. However, I never tire of seeing eagles and I hope that you agree with me. Unlike yesterday’s eagle that flew downward and away from me, the eagle in these shots had a more level flight path and I was able to capture a couple of images as it zoomed past me.

Eagles are a tough subject to photograph because of the extreme contrast between the white feathers on their heads and the dark feathers on their bodies. If the exposure is too far off from what it should be, it is easy to blow out the highlights on the head or to have super deep shadows on the body, both of which lead to a loss of details. When I took these shots, the light was pretty bright, creating shadows that further complicated my efforts.

None of these images is quite as sharp as I would like them to have been, but I am pretty happy with the overall results. Eagles are special and I consider any day when I spot one to be a good day. Capturing shots of one is a bonus.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Bald Eagle Takeoff

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle takeoff, Canon 7D, eagle takeoff, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 31, 2023| 2 Comments »

Whenever I am observing a perched Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), I look for signs that it is preparing to take off. Sometimes there are little clues, like a flex of the wings or a slight movement of the feet, but quite often there is no warning. Usually I have my camera on a monopod, so my arms do not get fatigued as I try to stay ready and focused.

When the eagle actually takes to the air I have to track the movement and anticipate the direction in which the eagle will fly so that I can keep my subject within the frame. In the second image, for example, the eagle could have flown up into the air, but instead, as you can see in the third image, the eagle flew downwards. I was a little slow in following the bird and in the next frame, which I did not post, only half of the eagle was visible.

During a typical visit to the wildlife refuge, I am fortunate if I have one or two encounters of this sort, so I feel a little pressure to take advantage of each opportunity. There are so many variables over which I have no control that success is far from being guaranteed. No matter how good my shots may be, I am always convinced that I can get better ones, which helps to motivate me to go out again and again with my camera.

Technology is always advancing and some of the newer cameras have amazing capabilities to track moving subjects and stay focused on their eyes. Recently I watched a video on YouTube entitled “What is the SKILL and TALENT of a Wildlife Photographer” in which Scott Keys, a wildlife photographer, discussed the relative importance of personality traits, skill, talent, and gear in getting good photos. I highly recommend that you watch this video if you have ever thought about this issue.

Scott and I both agree that the most important of these four is the personality—you need to be patient and persistent, observant and aware in order to maximize the number of opportunities to get “the shot.” Knowledge and practice, which is how I would define skill, would be next in priority order for me. Gear would be in third or even fourth place and talent, i.e. God-given ability, occupying the remaining slot.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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