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Thanks to Bill Anderson showing up, one of the Pt. Edwards Eagles decided to put on a show. The lighting, although fairly dim (ISO 800) was nice and even. These were taken with the Canon 7D, 500mm f4L and l.4x tele-extender.
It didn't take him long to dispatch this salmon
He took off and headed for his mate in the nearby Pt. Edwards tree
Terry was set up above the beach by the picnic tables, so I moved down onto the beach for a different angle. The tide was out, so I could get a little closer than usual with an upward viewing angle that enabled me to position the eagle against the Olympic Mountains. I wanted the mountains to be in better focus, so I switched to Av mode with the ISO set on auto.
1/160, f/16, ISO 300
1/500, f/22, ISO 2000
1/640, f/16, ISO 1000
The eagle finished eating fairly quickly and looked as though it were about to take off, so I switched back to Tv mode at 1,000 and auto ISO. With the 1.4 extender on the 5.6/100-400L zoom, the 5DIII defaults to f/8.0 to get the lowest possible ISO. The auto focus still works at f/8.0 thanks to last year's firmware upgrade.
I had to do more post processing in Picasa than I like in order to save the above photos and some were still not very sharp. I think the dim light played havoc with the camera's auto focus. Terry's shots keep pushing me to get a used 4.0/600L telephoto, as there is no substitute for reach.
Later a third adult flew past the Pt. Edwards pair while they were in the family tree above the dog park. We expected a screech fest, but the pair just watched it go by. We wondered if it were one of the Pt. Wells pair that the Pt. Edwards pair might be accustomed to seeing.
Edmonds-Woodway is getting quite crowded with eagles, as we had earlier seen a juvie and a third adult as well as the Pt. Wells pair in the distance. So far there have been no big fights like Chad witnessed in Portland.
Edmonds-Woodway is getting quite crowded with eagles, as we had earlier seen a juvie and a third adult as well as the Pt. Wells pair in the distance. So far there have been no big fights like Chad witnessed in Portland.
The peace could not last forever. Monday (3/10) saw extensive eagle interaction at Marina Park. I braved the rain to photograph several series of shots of a juvie attempting to steal what looked like a murre that had been captured by one of the Pt. Edwards adults. The other adult would come to the rescue and attempt to drive off the juvie.
More action. This went on for over an hour, although the juvie took about a half hour break between assaults.
The adult's mate trying to drive off the juvie.
Look closely and you can see the head and wings of the prey becoming detached. Between being eaten and being fought over, the carcass at this point was reduced to just feathers and bones. That did not stop the juvie from trying to steal it.
A third adult joined the foray. We have photographed it in the past. I believe it is an unattached adult looking for territory and a mate, which gets back to my original question. How many eagles can our area support?
The juvie joined the skirmish.
It was now an eagle free-for-all with four angry birds in the air.
One of the adults wound up with what was left of the carcass. It was chased by another adult that was trying to steal it.
The single adult and the juvie eventually gave up and flew north towards the ferry dock.
The Pt. Wells eagles were sitting on their perch a mile south of us and were not part of the action.
We caught up to the single adult by the ferry dock. Earlier the juvie had circled the ferry dock then continued north.
I thought the day's eagle action was done when I went to the fish hatchery. I noticed that the crows were very restless and making a lot of noise. Two juvies were flying around under the canopy of the trees on the hatchery grounds. Juvie #1 had more white than juvie #2 and looked about a year older. I have observed that juvies will hang out together as they are not yet concerned about finding mates and territories.
Juvie #1:
Juvie #2:
Eagle count for the day:
Pt. Edwards adult pair (2)
Pt. Wells adult pair (2)
single adult (1)
juvies: (2 or 3)
Wow, Bill...you really did a great job capturing the mayhem! I assume you were using your 5Diii and 100-400 with the 1.4x extender. Having the zoom ability really paid off!
Wow, Bill...you really did a great job capturing the mayhem! I assume you were using your 5Diii and 100-400 with the 1.4x extender. Having the zoom ability really paid off!
That is what I was using. It would have been very difficult to get many of the shots with a really big lens mounted to to a tripod. You need to buy some travel bags for your camera gear that will fit on your bicycle.
Saturday (4/5/14) Janine phoned to report orca sightings off Port Townsend. I headed down to the waterfront in case the whales headed toward Edmonds. The orca action failed to materialize, but the eagles put on a good show.
An adult was perched on the piling off the Senior Center between the marina and the ferry dock.
It took off,
flew south over the marina,
and was followed a minute later by a (second year?) juvie that has been hanging around Edmonds this winter and spring.
I then went up to Pt. Edwards to check on the eagle nest, where there appeared to be no activity until the juvie flew by.
I heard loud screeching, but couldn't locate the source. One of the adults, which might have been perched in the nearby sentry tree, flew into the nest and continued screeching.
The adult remained in the nest for about twenty minutes, then took off.
This activity by the adult suggests there is something going on at the nest, although I don't know what it is at this time. Last year we did not see eaglets until June.
Wednesday (4/9/14) I caught one of the juvies perched on the piling off the Senior Center between the Marina and the ferry dock.
I used the 5DIII + 100-400L zoom to get this sequence of the juvie snatching up a "fish".
The juvie's inexperience showed as it had not captured a fish, but a piece of floating bark. Taken with the 7D + 4.0/500L telephoto + 1.4x TC mounted on a tripod.
Recently reported osprey sightings prompted me to check the two osprey nests in the Meadowdale area of Lynnwood, WA on Friday (4/11/14) afternoon. The nest platform on the centerfield light stand at the Meadowdale softball complex appeared empty. I did not see either birds perched on the nearby family tree.
Both osprey have returned to the nest built in the cell phone tower in the corner of the Dunn Lumber yard located south of the intersection of Hwy. 99 and 168th St. SW.
The female was sitting in the nest and chirping incessantly...........
but the male ignored her while he was perched on the tower.
Edit: I entered this post in the wrong thread, but I cannot find any way of deleting it.
