My Eagle season come to an end
Today was the last day of the Eagle season for me. I have travelled to two places to take photos of three different Eagles namely the Golden Eagle, the Eastern Imperial Eagle and the White-tailed Eagle. I succeeded with my mission to photo all three during February. The time in Hungary was tough with warm weather and heavy clouds that made it hard to get good photos.
How was the last day of the Eagle season?
Well it was tediously for most of the day and that was thanks to the Northern Goshawk that dampend the activity at the site. It made three, or four, appearances during the day with one being a feeble attempt at a Great Spotted Woodpecker. I would really have liked to get a good photo of the Goshawk, but that wasn´t to be this time. We also had a skittish and nervous Red Fox that made a quick appearance for one minute. I suspect it was spooked by the camera movement it saw or picked up our scent. I also think it certainly knew that there where Golden Eagles around.
If we focus on the Golden Eagles and the time we got to spend with them today then I’ll say we had a marvelous day. We had them at the site for 2h30m and they put up a good show for us.
I got many good photos but I have quickly selected three that show some of the action we had during those hours.
This photo is of the male Golden Eagle just before it land. I would say that the picture and the quality is really something special. My trouble was to choose one as I managed a good sequence of the approach and landing. The quality is good and I am sure some of them will end up on print. It landed to feed but also tried to get the female to come down, but she was hard-headed and sadly stayed up in the tree. In the picture you also can see falling snow and that brings a little extra to the picture, at least for me.
Mating in the blizzard
This picture is from the mating that we witnessed today. As you can see we had blizzard and that mad it hard for us. It put a whitish smoke screen in front of many photos which isn´t good, but it was fun to get the possibility to get some decent photos of the mating this time. Many photos ended in the bin due to focus being on a snowflake just in front of the Eagles, but this is good and I like that you can see parts of the females head on the other side of the branch they are sitting on.
The last picture is of the female Golden Eagle when it surveys the smorgasbord at hand. I like this picture the most of the three I show here. I like the gliding pose and how you can see the individual feathers on her wings. You also see a hint of the scenery with snow covered tree tops and a light snowfall. A really nice picture in my mind.
They are all good pictures, but I think I have more to show during the coming weeks so stay tuned.
The day ended with dinner and a birthday cake as it was Tommys birthday. That wasn´t a bad way to end my Eagle season and the three days in Kalvträsk.
Here are links to the two other days here in Kalvträsk.
Comment
Really great photos. I got just a few keepers of the eagle from the three days but the moments and the excitement in the hide I will remember and feel for a long time. Now I look forward to the next trip. /Frode