I was driving home yesterday after driving a friend to the airport in Bozeman Montana from Yellowstone. If you know the drive, its long and can be quite boring in mid-day with harsh light and no good photo opts even though you're passing through some beautiful landscapes.
To clear the mind from almost a 500 mile drive with nothing but the radio to keep me company, I stopped just North of West Yellowstone to get some shots of a few Osprey nests.
After spending an hour with the Osprey, I felt like I had accomplished my Daily Task of coming home with at least one shot I can post in a gallery and be happy with.
If you've been in the Park this year, then you know about the Eagles nest coming in from the West Yellowstone Entrance. They've had the signs taken down, now that the baby has left the nest and the parents are out hunting most of the day.
Upon passing the area, I saw one family sitting along the edge of the road glassing a log that had a very large knot sticking up from it. I drove past thinking to myself "Why not go back to see what they were looking at, it would give me a minute to get out of the truck and stretch my legs anyway."
I need to apologize to anyone who frequents this forum who might have stopped (A lot of people stop when they see big glass on the side of the road) for mis-informing them on the species of the bird, the bird on the log was NOT a Golden Eagle, but a Immature Bald Eagle.
Me and another photographer sat watching it through our lenses and it looked to me like a Golden Eagle by its dark markings. On my drive home I sat thinking about the comments the other photographer had made about asking if it was injured or what was wrong with it and why couldnt it fly?
This location was right near where the Eagles nest is and it then dawned on me that that this wasnt a Golden Eagle, but an Immature Bald Eagle that was practicing its flight patterns. This also made perfect sense as to why one of the adult bald eagles was sitting in a tree watching the clumsy kid trying to take to the air in the strong winds. Ok, enough talking and some photos already
