observing eagles

You know, aside from the other advice people offer, I'll just say that I "empathize"!

I've spent time just out and wandering around places, some that do get some eagles and such...you want to be aware, eyes wide open, and sensitive to the fact that movement on your part can send those critters off!
one day I was wandering in some nearby woods near a lake, and as I was walking through, my eye "caught" a bit of a "spot", and looking, I noticed a bald eagle parked in a nearby tree!

this first shot shows that eagle at a distance "caught" with my 70-200 lens...

then, I slowly and cautiously crept up, and shot a more "closeup" shot with my 300mm lens and a 2X TC, and came up with what I think is a nice "portrait"!:

Well, then, guess what? The eagle spotted me creeping up and decided to go away! dang, here he is flopping up and away1:

So, the "moral of the story" is: be quiet and careful when creeping through those places where you may see a critter!

As everyone says, raptors are always watching you

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/Scbs​qm lag_28jan2017_3 by Mark Turner, on Flickr

Heh, more seriously, maybe there is a way to use a blind for birds like this that hangs out lower to the ground, but you would have to have the time to put into it. When I look at all of the great pictures on POTN that are all better than mine, for bird shots a couple of things stand out to me.

1. Time, everyone has to decide what to spend their time on, but a lot of the best photos are from people that have payed their dues, put in a lot of time to learning the habits of the creatures they are trying to capture, prioritizing their time for being there when they need to be for best lighting, days at a time. I enjoy hiking outdoors, and taking opportunistic shots, but this is not a priority for me. But I really respect the work a lot of you have put into this.

2. Gear, not necessarily better gear, but knowing your gear, how to get focus good enough for 50% or 100% crops, having the camera on you and ready when opportunity arises, having the exposure set to get the shot, etc. I can't tell you how many times I miss something as I drive up, with the camera still in the bag instead of in the seat beside me. Well, yeah, the right gear helps too. Particularly with raptors, strong telephoto is needed, my 300mm lens with a crop camera really isn't enough were this to be the main use for my 300mm, which it is not. The f/4 and IS are what I need for my kids in band/orchestra, the lens is great for that.

For the eagles and hawks out here in CO, the terrain is too open to get close without being observed. The shot above is probably 50-80 yards from the bird, and it's already watching me, I thought it was looking away from me when I took the shot and had to laugh when I saw the shot enlarged on the computer. If they are roosting, 40-80 yards are about as close as I can get on close to the same level, if they are way up in a tree or telephone pole I can get closer but then the angle of view is poor, I have plenty of shots like that.

This shot is maybe 60-80 yards away, very heavily cropped:

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/SqZ7​F2 lag_26jan2017_6 by Mark Turner, on Flickr

This was from maybe 40 yards away, the wind was blowing maybe 30 mph with gusts to 50 mph, and the eagles were grounded facing into the wind pinning them down, still heavily cropped:

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/SeLy​cv zIMG_5509 by Mark Turner, on Flickr

And you occasionally get these as they fish, this is uncropped, terribly lit, but it is fun to watch these guys with their 7-8 foot wingspan swoop by:

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/SqZ8​Fi lag_28jan2017_2 by Mark Turner, on Flickr