Well, by now you must know that I love the eagles out at the lake. This year I have only managed one day out so far but have seen a lot of American Bald Eagles and Osprey either while on the boat or driving to the market.
Photographing birds while on a boat can be a bit of a challenge, especially if there is any wave action at all. AND, well, it’s summer on the Shuswap so that means lots of speed boats and houseboats and consequently waves! I go by my mentors teachings (thank you Niel!). “Take 5 images for every one if you are worried about focus, one will be good”, and that certainly proved to be true in this batch of photos. I deleted AT LEAST 4/5’s of what I took and then, what is below, is the best of those!
No flight action – this pair were just curious about what the heck that crazy lady was doing and why the heck she was pointing that thing at them!
Here you get an idea of what the water was like. Well, sort of – when you’re holding a big-a$$ lens and standing there is a whole lot of movement from both the waves and the unsteady feet and tiring arms!!When we are searching for the eagles, we watch for their bright white heads in a high branch above but near the water’s edge. Better to see the fish from that vantage point.This is where he started paying attention to me and then just as I looked away to say something to BD – off he goes!We watched, we followed but the bird looked different. I was sure this wasn’t the same bird but we couldn’t see the other.But… who could complain with the sun shining bright on her white feathers, she was so beautiful, if not a bit annoyed with me for encroaching on her lake! NOTE: we never do anything to entice or challenge birds to do anything other than their natural actions. We just sit and watch and wait. They were not fishing at this time, they were not flying, just sitting so that is what I captured. Patience and persistence. I have the whole summer – every summer after all. SO, LOL, I have a ton of images that look exactly the same!!But what a beauty!And then we spotted our original eagle, hidden – but not. And he was watching us. They were a pair and honestly, I have no idea which was the male or the female but I decided the first was male and the one bathed in sunlight was the female.The Majestic Gaze, unwavering, like an eagle!
And now, I need to get out on the road to get some Osprey images. I will also try down at the other end of Mara closer to the river. Although with water levels so low this year we will not be taking the boat through there.
Great camaflouge