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Thursday (5/25) Terry and I were photographing the Pt. Edwards nest when I saw a juvie in the far distance. The juvie worked its way north and was spotted by the female in the nest.
A helicopter flew by at the same time and I got it in some of the photos. Due to compression by the telephoto lens, the helicopter appears much closer to the juvie than it really was.
Thursday afternoon (6/8) I noticed both adults perched on the pilings by the ferry dock. They both took off and flew towards the marsh as I was unloading my photo gear. One of them may have been carrying a fish. My son and I drove to the marsh where we saw one fly down from a tree to land hidden in the grass beside Willow Creek. We waited about an hour for it to take off, but it never did. Tired of waiting, we drove up to Pt. Edwards to check on the nest, where one of the babies and the mother posed for us.
Photos of one of the Pt. Edwards babies taken Friday afternoon (6-9-17) with the 5DIII + 500L telephoto + 1.4x TC, tripod mounted. They have all been cropped to some extent.
I have not seen the two babies together this week. I hope one was not a victim of eaglet fratricide.
Sunday afternoon (6/11/17) at the Pt. Edwards nest. The baby was visible when I first set up.
The eaglet had retreated to the back of the nest before the mother arrived amid much fanfare.
There is not a large window of visibility to alert you to her pending arrival. Fortunately she announces herself with much screeching before she flies into sight and continues the chorus after landing.
She changed perches, but the baby remained at the back of the nest.
I drove the short distance (as the eagle flies) to check on the Deer Creek nest. The viewing angle is not good, but I could see the baby stirring in the nest. These shots were taken from the comfort of my pickup with the 7DII + 100-400L II zoom + 1.4x teleconverter.
The first time I have photographed the Pt. Edwards eaglet from the back of the nest.
The Deer Creek eaglet continues to grow.
The locations, viewing angles, and flight paths related to both nests are such that we cannot get spectacular shots of the adults flying in and out of the nests like we could with the original Pt. Edwards nest in 2014. Terry's recent shots of a Pt. Edwards adult flying out of its nest towards him are proving to be the exception.
My Friday (6/16/17) lunch stop at the Deer Creek nest proved fruitful as I discovered a second baby in the nest. Both babies were stretching their wings. Judging by the exposed feather shafts, I think these babies are a week or two younger than the Pt. Edwards baby.
Adult + one baby.
Adult + two babies.
One baby's beak is noticeably larger than the other's. Sister & brother?
I stopped by the Pt. Edwards nest shortly before sunset and saw one adult hunkered down inside.
Friday afternoon (6/23/17) I stopped by Lake Ballinger while my son was playing tennis. One of the resident eagles was perched on its snag and being harassed by the evil minions of the Dark Lord.
Its mate was circling high above the lake.
I took a few shots of their nest, but saw nothing until I down-loaded the photos to my computer. I am 99.99% certain the pair have a baby this year. You can barely see its beak. What looks like the white head and yellow beak of an adult is actually intervening foliage I'll have to return with the 500L telephoto when lighting condition are better.
One of the Pt. Edwards eagles was perched in the shade in a tree next to Willow Creek at the marsh. This is not one of the eagle's usual spots and I would not have found it had it not been for the crows pointing it out to me. This is a 100mm shot from my 7DII + 100-400L II telephoto zoom + 1.4x TC. The heat waves made the 400mm telephoto shots worthless.
What looked like a 3 year old sub adult flew north over the marsh. The eagle in the tree just watched it fly over with no reaction.
Tuesday (6/27/17) I set up the 5DIII + 500L telephoto + 1.4x TC at the Deer Creek nest and caught one of the eaglets stirring. It is hard to find good lighting for photographing the nest.
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