Brackendale Eagles

[ibdb]

I know that at least somebody from POTN must have been to Brackendale for the Eagles at least once, but my search for Brackendale came up with nothing.

So, who's been and when? What focal lengths would you recommend? Other words of wisdom?

I'm headed up to Whistler after Thanksgiving, and plan on making a stopover in Brackendale to see the Eagles. I've got a 1D MkIII and a 100-400 that I imagine with see the bulk of use, but I've considered renting longer glass and/or getting a teleconverter.

[Natural Images]

Have never been to Brackendale but if your going primarily to shoot eagles in flight then I would consider renting the Canon 400 5.6L lens, for faster more accurate focusing, sharper shots etc... IMO, It would definitely be worth it. And the 400 5.6L will take a tc better, and with the camera your using it shouldn't slow your focusing too much.

[BradM]

Late November should have a number of eagles about, numbers will usually significantly climb in the month following and into the Spring but you should have no problem finding birds. I was up there last year in mid December, to Squamish anyway and I had a nice afternoon just walking the dike and collecting a number of images before heading back to Vancouver.

Many of the shots were in the 200mm range to fill the frame with the bird so your 100-400mm will probably be more than enough but you might consider renting a 500mm f/4, it is still light enough to handhold and with a 1.4x gives you 700mm if the birds are on the other side of the river. Though in the several times I have been up there I have never used more than my 100-400mm and was never at at a disadvantage.

If you have the time you might try running up the Cheakmus Valley from the fish hatchery there down to the river mouth into the bay. You will find birds just about everywhere but in this stretch you will find some good shooting vantages and often as mentioned some close shots.

But be sure to follow the various restrictions and no trespassing areas you may find, these people (primarily the First Peoples but new property owners looking to cash in on the upcoming Olympics) have to go through a lot of tourists ignoring their rights and aren't shy about calling the RCMP or worse dealing with the issue themselves.

[ibdb]

...I would consider renting the Canon 400 5.6L lens...
Thanks for the suggestion. I've never had a problem with focus speed or sharpness of my results with the 100-400. I've never paired it with a TC though, and don't know if that would even be necessary for this area.

...I was up there last year in mid December, to Squamish anyway and I had a nice afternoon just walking the dike and collecting a number of images before heading back to Vancouver.

Many of the shots were in the 200mm range to fill the frame with the bird so your 100-400mm will probably be more than enough but you might consider renting a 500mm f/4, it is still light enough to handhold and with a 1.4x gives you 700mm if the birds are on the other side of the river. Though in the several times I have been up there I have never used more than my 100-400mm and was never at at a disadvantage....
This is exactly the sort of information I'd hoped to find! Thank you very much.

I'll be traveling with my family (3 kids under 9 + wife + in-laws), so unless they get tired of me and leave me in the second car to fend for myself, I'm most likely to be spending almost all my time in that area near the dike. I've seen lots of shots posted in different places that say they were taken in Brackendale, but none with EXIF or focal lengths listed, and it had been well before my DSLR days that I visited last, so the focal length issue was one that I kept puzzling over.

[V8Rumble]

I am heading up there this winter with my new 150-500. But I have no experience. Google brackendale eagles as well as use search in the bird forum, not talk.