Terrible picture but I am excited

For those of you who were around the begining of this year you might recall I documented a couple of eaglets from week 1 through the time the fledged and learned to survive on their own. As most eagles do around here they travel (dissapeared) north for the summer. Yesterday I went back to the nest area for the first time in a while and there they were. Now hopefully I resume watching them as the progress from juveniles into adult hood.

Taken from about 200 plus feet away with the sun behind them.

Sorry to ramble on but my wife does not share my enthusiasm.

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Lil playing with CS2 and Nik Filters (Polarizer or Grad ND to be exact) might clean up the shot a bit?

Ahhhh what do Wives know? LOL
Nothing better than a good capture of a hard to photograph bird the way I see it!!

That's great that they've returned. Enjoy watching them through the winter & I'm sure they will present you many photo opps.

Again, it's great that they've both come back to their nest again. I, for one, don't think of that as a terrible picture. Yes, it could be better technically, but that's not the whole story of photography. It's an event that's telling a story, and in that respect, it's a great shot!!

We look forward to following their progress...

Nice to see they have returned as a pair. I share in your excitement Blue, as I was returning from a football practice with my son, I drove by two of our local nest and was quite surprised to see two Baldies at both nest...It should be an interesting winter in these parts ...Can't wait to see more of these from you!

I could feel the excitement BD. It's always nice to see familiar faces again after a long time. Besides, getting a pair of them perching side by side is not easy. Looking forward to seeing more photos of them this winter.

cfcRebel wrote in post #2053639
I could feel the excitement BD. It's always nice to see familiar faces again after a long time. Besides, getting a pair of them perching side by side is not easy. Looking forward to seeing more photos of them this winter.

Totally agree with Fee BD. I'm sure you'll have your day in the sun with these birds as they'll be hangin' out there for sometime.

not so terrible

I would be excited as well.

You should double-check me on this but I believe that these are red-tailed hawks. I do, however, think it is a fine picture.

Rubberhead wrote in post #2055079
You should double-check me on this but I believe that these are red-tailed hawks. I do, however, think it is a fine picture.

That was my thought too when I first viewed this shot. Nice anyways!

Yep. Great capture of a pair of red-tailed hawks. Juvenile bald eagles would be much darker overall. I need to check out our local bald eagle nest site, but probably need a longer lens.

Dale

dale65bama wrote in post #2055601
Yep. Great capture of a pair of red-tailed hawks. Juvenile bald eagles would be much darker overall. I need to check out our local bald eagle nest site, but probably need a longer lens.

Dale

I was wrong and started having my doubts after I posted this because of the abundance of rust on the chest. I asked the Fl. Audubons eagle watch cordinator about this and the following was her reply. I am still excited since I have never seen any red tails in this area.

"Look again! They're red-tails...it's a common mistake, especially with a big female who can be almost as large as a male eagle. You also can't see the red tails when they are perched facing you-the red is on the top of the tail feathers, or they may be juvies without the red tail.What's interesting is that this looks like a pair-notice the larger female-and it's unusual to see them paired up this time of year. And it's a good picture!! I can't tell you how many times I've thought I saw an eagle and it turned out to be something else.
I wouldn't be surprised if you did see the juvies back in the area. They often return after their first summer, food-begging at the parents. The adults ignore them, for they are going about the nesting business all over again and don't have time for such nonsense. They won't hurt them, but often have to chase them to get them to leave. You may get some good aerial acrobatic shots! "
Thanks,
Lynda

Lynda White
Audubon EagleWatch Coordinator