Wldlife of Edmonds, WA. 2014
- Thread starter Bill Anderson
- Start date
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Photographing the backyard birds was a last act of desperation on a slow day.
It was great meeting you Rocky - I hope you will join us again!
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Love it, Bill
Photographing the backyard birds was a last act of desperation on a slow day.
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Terry O
Well-Known Member
Hopefully things will pick up, Bill.
BTW, here's a shot I forgot to process in the series I posted yesterday - its the initial shot of the Eagle taking off from her nest. The main reason I am posting it here is it gives an idea of the incredible fully-stretched wing span of these amazing creatures. Because of the dark background and dark wings you have to look closely to see the tips. I'm guessing it has to be pushing seven or more feet - certainly well over 6 feet.
BTW, here's a shot I forgot to process in the series I posted yesterday - its the initial shot of the Eagle taking off from her nest. The main reason I am posting it here is it gives an idea of the incredible fully-stretched wing span of these amazing creatures. Because of the dark background and dark wings you have to look closely to see the tips. I'm guessing it has to be pushing seven or more feet - certainly well over 6 feet.
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Friday (1/31) Terry and I gave visiting forum member Rocky a tour of our secret avian photo hot spots in Edmonds. As we drove up Pt. Edwards, we saw the resident eagle pair circling overhead. One of the birds had some branches in its talons and was heading for the nest.
We caught her(?) in the nest.
I missed shots of her flying out of the nest, but I think Terry and Rocky got a few. She flew to the nearby sentry tree, where the pair often perched last year after their two babies grew large enough to fill up the nest.
She flew to the top of the sentry tree.......
..... while her mate remained in an adjacent tree.
A juvie flew by as we were giving Rocky a tour of the Pt. Edwards walkway. We all noticed that it had a bad leg. It may be one of the two 2013 Hutt Park juvies, as last year I photographed one dangling a leg while perched in the family tree at Hutt Park. Check post #315 here: http://www.pnwphotos.com/forum/showthread.php?7934-Wildlife-of-Edmonds-WA/page32
We caught her(?) in the nest.
I missed shots of her flying out of the nest, but I think Terry and Rocky got a few. She flew to the nearby sentry tree, where the pair often perched last year after their two babies grew large enough to fill up the nest.
She flew to the top of the sentry tree.......
..... while her mate remained in an adjacent tree.
A juvie flew by as we were giving Rocky a tour of the Pt. Edwards walkway. We all noticed that it had a bad leg. It may be one of the two 2013 Hutt Park juvies, as last year I photographed one dangling a leg while perched in the family tree at Hutt Park. Check post #315 here: http://www.pnwphotos.com/forum/showthread.php?7934-Wildlife-of-Edmonds-WA/page32
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Wesley was cleaning his bill at the marsh.
A double-crested cormorant was giving itself a salt water bath off the fishing pier.
From the fishing pier we went to Marina Park. Terry had bailed on us at the marsh, so I knew we were in for a real show at the park. We ran into forum member Jenine, who said we had missed hot eagle action that morning: three juvies and two sub adults all screeching and harassing each other with the Pt. Edwards adult pair nowhere to be seen.
We saw one of the Pt. Edwards adults in the family tree past the dog park.
A double-crested cormorant was giving itself a salt water bath off the fishing pier.
From the fishing pier we went to Marina Park. Terry had bailed on us at the marsh, so I knew we were in for a real show at the park. We ran into forum member Jenine, who said we had missed hot eagle action that morning: three juvies and two sub adults all screeching and harassing each other with the Pt. Edwards adult pair nowhere to be seen.
We saw one of the Pt. Edwards adults in the family tree past the dog park.
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The other adult was on the piling eating a fish.
She(?) began to screech, which alerted us to the presence of another eagle in the area.
The other eagle was a second juvie with two good legs.
She took off and after flying past the condos, headed south around Pt. Edwards.
She(?) began to screech, which alerted us to the presence of another eagle in the area.
The other eagle was a second juvie with two good legs.
She took off and after flying past the condos, headed south around Pt. Edwards.
The piling was not vacant for long as the other adult swooped in with a fish to eat
The juvie was still in the area and the adult reacted by screeching.
The juvie was still in the area and the adult reacted by screeching.
The continued presence of the juvie.....
........ may have bothered the adult as it flew off without finishing the fish. Its mate flew out to investigate......
....... and the two adults circled over Pt. Edwards.
The juvie made a few passes by the piling without landing.
As you can tell by the quality of the latter photos, sunset was near and what little light remained was fading fast, so we all headed for home. I think Rocky enjoyed his visit to Edmonds as we gave him the eagle action he was seeking.
........ may have bothered the adult as it flew off without finishing the fish. Its mate flew out to investigate......
....... and the two adults circled over Pt. Edwards.
The juvie made a few passes by the piling without landing.
As you can tell by the quality of the latter photos, sunset was near and what little light remained was fading fast, so we all headed for home. I think Rocky enjoyed his visit to Edmonds as we gave him the eagle action he was seeking.
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enjoy it i did, Bill, and i appreciate the guided tour! my shots of the nest didn't come out nearly as well as yours... the 7D isn't bad in low light, but it does get pretty noisy when the light is as dim and dull as it was today, and most of my shots from the nest area weren't worth keeping. i'll go back with better weather, though, and i'm sure that will help! that area does seem to have a number of good spots for shooting various birds, and will be on my list of places to visit regularly come spring especially.
I'm glad you enjoyed your visit. The best shots of the nest are taken with a really big telephoto lens (Terry's 4.0/500L + 1.4 teleconverter or my 2.8/400L + 2x teleconverter) attached to the 7D and mounted on a tripod during a rare sunny summer afternoon.
Terry and I are out nearly every day shooting the same locations we took you, so we have developed an instinctual knowledge of the birds and the lighting. We must visit Yost Park the next time you come down and look for the resident barred owl pair.
Terry and I are out nearly every day shooting the same locations we took you, so we have developed an instinctual knowledge of the birds and the lighting. We must visit Yost Park the next time you come down and look for the resident barred owl pair.
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Terry O
Well-Known Member
It was great meeting you Rocky - I hope you will join us again!
After Saturday's (2/1) orcas left, it was back to photographing the Pt. Edwards eagles. As I told Jenine, this is almost getting boring. How many of these shots do I really need?
Terry O
Well-Known Member
Super cool sequence, Bill!
Here's a few from this morning, before Superbowl
Janine and I visited the Pt. Edwards pair at the nest. Taken with the 7D and 500+1.4x - lighting was reasonable for a change.
Maybe this one should be titled "The Seahawk" He certainly looks the part
Here's a few from this morning, before Superbowl
Janine and I visited the Pt. Edwards pair at the nest. Taken with the 7D and 500+1.4x - lighting was reasonable for a change.
Maybe this one should be titled "The Seahawk" He certainly looks the part
Good shots, Terry. No low light/high ISO noise, for a pleasant change. BTW, I am on to your subliminal, psychological campaign to convince me to buy that used 600L telephoto lens.
Local urban eagle recap:
The (Edmonds-Woodway) Pt. Edwards pair had one baby in 2011, none in 2012, and two in 2013. The female has recently been spending a lot of time at the nest for so early in the year. Maybe they will have more offspring in 2014.
The (Mountlake Terrace) Lake Ballinger pair had one baby in 2012 and none in 2013.
The (Edmonds) Hutt Park pair had two babies in 2013.
I don't know the location of the (Shoreline/Richmond Beach) Pt. Wells pair's nest, so I don't know how many babies they have had over the past 3-4 years.
These nests are in city parks or residential back yards of northern Seattle suburbs and are within a 5-15 minute drive from my house. The eagles tolerate the presence of us humans quite nicely and I can get fairly close to them so long as they are perched above me. Once on the ground, they are quite skittish.
In 2012 I counted a total of 13 eagles (4x2= 8 full adult breeding pairs + 5 juvies/sub adults) in the Edmonds/Woodway/Mountlake Terrace area. Maybe we will break that record in 2014.
Local urban eagle recap:
The (Edmonds-Woodway) Pt. Edwards pair had one baby in 2011, none in 2012, and two in 2013. The female has recently been spending a lot of time at the nest for so early in the year. Maybe they will have more offspring in 2014.
The (Mountlake Terrace) Lake Ballinger pair had one baby in 2012 and none in 2013.
The (Edmonds) Hutt Park pair had two babies in 2013.
I don't know the location of the (Shoreline/Richmond Beach) Pt. Wells pair's nest, so I don't know how many babies they have had over the past 3-4 years.
These nests are in city parks or residential back yards of northern Seattle suburbs and are within a 5-15 minute drive from my house. The eagles tolerate the presence of us humans quite nicely and I can get fairly close to them so long as they are perched above me. Once on the ground, they are quite skittish.
In 2012 I counted a total of 13 eagles (4x2= 8 full adult breeding pairs + 5 juvies/sub adults) in the Edmonds/Woodway/Mountlake Terrace area. Maybe we will break that record in 2014.
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I asked some questions about our local eagles' behavior and received the following reply from Ruth Milner, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) District Wildlife Biologist for Snohomish County. If you read this Ruth, thanks for your reply.
You are correct, our eagles leave their territories in August and used to return in December or January, but now it’s pretty standard to have them back in October. They go all over the place. Radio tracking shows bald eagles may go to Alaska, the Fraser River, California, even Montana – or they may just head to the local rivers. Young of the previous year often return with them to the natal territories. As the adults get closer to actually nesting, they will chase the older chicks away, sometimes, they really beat them up to get them to leave.
You are correct, our eagles leave their territories in August and used to return in December or January, but now it’s pretty standard to have them back in October. They go all over the place. Radio tracking shows bald eagles may go to Alaska, the Fraser River, California, even Montana – or they may just head to the local rivers. Young of the previous year often return with them to the natal territories. As the adults get closer to actually nesting, they will chase the older chicks away, sometimes, they really beat them up to get them to leave.
Terry O
Well-Known Member
While concentrating on eagle shots on Superbowl Sunday, this flock of Common Mergansers flew by. They are not typically a salt-water bird - my guess is they are headed somewhere toward fresh or at least brackish water.
(taken with the Canon 7D and 500 f4L + 1.4x extender; 1/1250s f5.6 ISO 250)
(taken with the Canon 7D and 500 f4L + 1.4x extender; 1/1250s f5.6 ISO 250)