Eagles

One of the most difficult birds to photograph are eagles. They generally shy away from people so you often are at great distances from them. Despite their large size, they still seem small in most photographs. I've found that I wait for 98% of the time, fighting boredom, then there will be a minute of activity in which to get the shot, then it's back to waiting.

What a beautiful pose - almost heart-shaped. After traveling to Goldstream Park nearly every weekend from October to February, I was delighted yet chagrined  to learn that in my neighbourhood, there was a pair of eagles nesting this whole time. Photo taken with my 300mm plus a 2x teleconvertor I bought on ebay to become a cheap & lightweight 600mm lens. Image slightly cropped & digitally sharpened.

The Oak Bay Eagles

Feeding time ! Taken around June 10th, 2002 one of the adults returns with fresh meat in its left talons. It had left the nest only five minutes earlier. Both young are excited with beaks wide open. The eagles bring back several seagulls each day and you can see the wings, feathers and other body parts of past kills festooned around the nest, as well as around the base of the tree.

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 I marveled at how well-behaived the fledglings were when feeding. The parents took turns feeding each, one at a time - very fair. After the adult would tear a strip from the kill, the young meekly bowed their heads and always took the proffered pieces from underneath the parent's beak. Quite civilized, eh?

 

When will they fly ? Each day the young test their wings. They screech as they flex their muscles.  I suppose it might be a mix of fear and excitement as they hope to take to the air. The pattern under the wings are clear in this photo.

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 One of my favourite photos. I often wander down to the nest on my lunch hour. One day, the owner of the house where the tree sits invited me in. I took this from his back porch. It's as close and high as I've ever been. Thanks Mr. Elliott !  Shot on Fuji Superia 400 ISO print film using my Elan 7e with a 300mm lens and a 2x teleconvertor. To get the exposure for the white head correct, the settings were 2 stops underexposed ! Image cropped and slightly sharpened to match original. Taken late May, 2002.

 

Another wonderful silhouette. Here is the male landing near the nest (lower left corner). I have touched up this photo: cropped to eliminate some of the overcast sky, removed an antenna from the picture, and slightly darkened the bright white background.  Like all the black & white photos on this page, this was shot on Fuji Neopan 400 ISO B&W print film. Maybe it was my exposure settings, but I find this film very grainy.

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 If not at the nest, you'll likely find them on the 'perch'. It's the tallest tree in the area and makes for  great look-out. You can appreciate just how broad their wings are from this angle. This take off was shot on Fuji Superia 400 print film kindly donated by my cousin Pearl whose husband works for Fuji. She's often giving me rolls of film. Thanks Pearl! (Elan 7e with a 300mm lens and a 2x teleconvertor)

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Here's the female (I think) eagle sitting adjacent to the nest. I've noticed she often sits using only one talon. This is one of my favourites because the eyes are very crisp. This is a large file so it may take a moment to view after you click on the thumbnail. Fuji Superia 400 ISO using my 300mm with 2x teleconvertor (600mm).

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 Heading out to find food. My tripod is set up by the Oak Bay Police Hall parking area. I caught a series of this eagle preparing and then taking off. The wings just kept unfolding until their span was enormous.

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This was taken around 9 am in early March. Photo cropped to reduce file size. Fuji Superia 400 ISO print film using my rebel G and 75-300mm.

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 Here is the pair together. Apparently the female is on the right, being larger. This is underexposed out of necessity - I needed more shutter speed to avoid a blurred image. Scanned from a slide: Fuji Velvia pushed to 100 ISO with a 2x teleconvertor (600mm).

 

One of the eagles has left and the the other dutifully remains. It  later returned with a large branch in its beak to add to the nest. Meanwhile, the guarding eagle  looked straight at me far below. Again, Fuji Velvia pushed to 100 ISO with a 2x teleconvertor (600mm). This is a beautiful film. Just look at the deep blues here.

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 How I took this photo is a story in itself. I don't recommend this to anyone. This tree was very far away, and extremely high (the 'Perch').  To fill the photo, I used my 300mm zoom with my 2x teleconvertor to make it 600mm, I then added my Canon Life-size convertor (really another teleconvertor) to again nearly double that = about 1200mm !. The lens and camera magnified any slightest shake and the quality is very poor as you can see. Nevertheless, what a great pose! Fuji Superia print film - 400 ISO. Image slightly sharpened digitally.

 

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