The first time I saw a bald eagle was on New Years Day 2011. I'll never forget it. My brother and I went out to New Durham NH, where we heard they were seen, and we walked straight into them.
Well, not literally- but we walked a ways into the woods, and there she was.
And I was hooked.
Ever since, I find where they are, and I visit. And wait. And sometimes I get lucky.
If I have an hour or two to spare- that's what I do.
And here's a few of the fruits of that labor from the last couple weeks...
The moment when they fly is my favorite moment. From sitting still, the first few thrusts of the giant wings is really cool to see. The wings are giant- bigger than you think they are. In reality, the wingspan of this eagle is close to 6 feet. That's taller than I am. Crazy to see...
With the help of a pretty powerful lens here, I caught a male bald eagle chilling in a tree, through a perfect naturally formed window through the tree...
The leap - taken from over 200 yards away.....
I believe the law says to stay 300 feet away from bald eagles- and I certainly don't want to violate that. But what do you do when you're standing there- and they fly in and land closer to you than that? You simply take advantage of the gift they're giving you - and you capture it on camera.
This eagle sat on a branch for about 5 minutes, and I watched without moving. Then - just as it lept to fly- I was ready.
And I got to go home happy...
g