The feature photo is Duchess, the eagle Mama, taking her turn off the nest, but not venturing far. And here is Duke, staying very close to the nest, keeping close watch. I know which is which because we happened to arrive to find my favorite, and most dedicated, eagle watcher already set up and taking pictures. She is an expert on all the nests in our area. It was fun to keep watch with her and her mom.
I believe this was Dad’s position for the entire time we watched.And here is the baby view I had hoped for, Except in my mind it was going to be a tiny ball of yellow fluff.He looks alert, and serious, as befits an eagle.He proceeded to flap his wings, getting ready to eventually leave the nest.Then, all of a sudden Mom arrived. Look at his posture, exactly like mom’s here.Feeding time. Mom stayed feeing the babies for a while, and then off she flew.Dad was still on guard. And, finally, baby #2 appeared.A slightly closer view.
Dad also flew off the nest as we packed up our gear to get on with the day, but as we drove away we could see both adults on snags close to the nest. It was a beautiful day and a chance to visit with friends, what could be better?
The feature photo was my first glimpse of the parent eagle keeping watch over the nest on Tuesday. I was riding my trike up the trail, and saw this view of him through a break in the foliage. From right in front of the nest I couldn’t see that eagle at all. I was prepared to hold out to see the baby eaglet though, meaning that I was ready to sit on my trike while I waited. But the reality was that I stood with my camera on the tripod, my right arm up with my finger on the shutter, putting pressure on my shoulder which has been giving me an issue for a while now. I caught a glimpse of what I thought might be the other parent flying in, so I stood there waiting, and shooting, and the first burst of photos was of the empty nest. And then as I scanned my photos in the computer I saw a glimpse of the other eagle flying in with a prize, just not the prize I might have expected. It was a bird, not a fish, and knowing that explains what another onlooker and I were wondering about. After he landed that eagle was obviously tearing at something and tossing whatever it was shredding out of the nest. Feathers! I was a little disappointed that the baby didn’t get up a little higher to see him or her better, but I did manage to see him and get a picture while he still looks like a baby. I missed that stage completely last year. So here is the sequence of events, some but not all of the pictures since there were over 20 photos from only the second or two that it took for him to land.
I had no clue that he had anything in his talons when I took this picture. I was just happy to be ready with the camera.Realizing that I had the series of photo in focus really made me happy. The camera’s ability to do this is what made me decide to buy it.This is when I figured out that it was a bird for lunch.It’s always a treat to see those wings catch the light.He got down to business cleaning his catch right away.Soon both parents were on hand.They were keeping an eye on some vultures who were buzzing the nest.Finally, a little head. I took so many pictures because I could see the head bob movement, and then I had to go through those zillion pictures hoping for a bit more than this tease of a view.A little better view.I think he was tired of waiting for a tid-bit.The squeaky wheel thing works in nature also, or so it would seem.
I was packing up the camera when I noticed two vultures buzzing the nest with a vengeance. I wondered if they were hoping this eagle would chase one of them, leaving the nest unguarded. Thankfully the eagle did a lot of yelling, but didn’t leave. But I did, leave I mean. I hope those good parents keep up their good work.
There you have it, the inspiration for many a photographer to head to Circle B Bar Reserve. It’s a Northern Harrier, and I didn’t expect to see it at all. Or ever. We were on our last stretch of trail, which is wide open to see the sky in all directions, but our intention was to make it back to the car before the battery in the scooter gave out. But we forgot all about that when we saw this bird, circling in the distance. I zoomed my lens to the full 400mm, but in the bright light and at that distance I couldn’t see if it was in the frame or not. But I took the shots anyhow. I’ve seen photographers standing with their cameras on their tripods, just waiting, hoping to see him. If they did I’m sure they got better pictures than this, but for my circumstances I’ll take it.
This Pied-Billed Grebe was a first to see here also, but one visited my lake a few years ago.You’ve heard of a bump on a log…Heading out on this trail with all it’s roots may be what challenged the battery of the scooter, but now we know where to look for the eagles.We never did figure out what this egret was so intent on, but we all passed by not 8 feet away and he didn’t even flinch.Another photographer asked what bird this is, and I answered that it was a Yellow-Rumped Warbler. Then she turned around and proved me right.
It was a fun day, but I crashed when I got home and sat down. It wasn’t a nap, I was done for the day. Now to check out some more of the 1334 pictures from yesterday. I was shooting in the fastest burst mode of the new camera, which is great if the bird takes off or something. But when they are still you just have the tiniest little eye blinks or head tilts to decide which is your best shot. But I’m not complaining.
When I took the feature photo I wondered if it would be only photo I’d get today. But the eagles came through again.
I wasn’t as prepared to wait out the eagles today, I had no trike to sit on and no tripod. And yet I was there quite a while. I enjoyed a conversation with another watcher, and I declared that if I left I just knew that something would happen right away, and I’d miss it. But all I had seen by then was the adult on the eggs was rustling around a bit. I hoped that meant that it was time for a changing of the guard. I saw her pop her head up, but I didn’t realize she was calling to her mate until I saw the pictures on the iPad. The other watcher left, and yes, in a few minutes the action began.I thought I saw the other eagle possibly flying in, so I rolled the zoom back out a bit, looking for one to land, and started shooting. I didn’t realize I’d caught the eagle on the nest as it headed out.Suddenly the second eagle was just above the nest, and sounding off. But after just a minute or two it flew down to the nest.And then she flew.The burst mode on the new camera gave me at least 15 pictures of this descent into the nest.I haven’t gotten many shots of eagles in flight so this sequence made me happy,He landed on a branch, not on the nest as I had expected.Once the new eagle had settled on the nest I looked to see if the first eagle had landed anywhere nearby. She stayed only a minute or two and she was off.
While waiting for something to happen I was a bit hopeful that the eggs had hatched already, if only because I thought that there would be more activity to see. Soon I think…
It’s not so unusual that I would see the eagles today because I had already decided that I would wait them out. I’ve done it before, hung around for two or three hours until they made their presence known. The reason I did it today was because they are currently sitting on eggs, so if you wait long enough the egg-sitter will be relieved by his or her mate. It will happen, but it will try your patience waiting for it sometimes.
I thought I was prepared. Sneakers instead of flip flops. And I wiped myself down with a bug wipe. I rode my trike so that I would have a place to sit, to be ready to stick with it for the duration. But I was beginning to wonder if I should have brought lunch. I answered a few questions about my Liberty Trike while I waited, and gave out some of the cards that came with the trike. I highly recommend it if anyone is in the market for one. I hated to get a trike for what it implies about my elderly status, but I wanted to keep my camera in the front basket and be ready to grab it and get my shot without worry about the trike tipping over. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.After about an hour Mom, or maybe it was Dad, stood up and stretched, and then settled back down. But it gave me hope that it was nearly time for the switch.It took a while, but shortly after a fellow photographer showed up came the moment I’d been waiting for. It wasn’t as dramatic as I may have hoped. She laughed over the fact that she pulled her car over and had her shot five minutes later.He/she didn’t go far, just to a branch right above the nest.Some more poses. I was shooting bursts, so this whole escapade netted me 664 photos to go through.And then it happened.I guess it was time, and off she went. I see fringing in this shot, but I can’t do anything about it on the iPad. Or I don’t know how to is probably more correct.This snag up the way was where he/she landed and stayed a while. Looking toward the water for a bit of lunch maybe? This is zoomed out for the scene, but I had my 100-400 lens on so I could zoom closer, thankfully.If you are watching a bird and you see it poop, it’s going to fly. Or so our group leader says. So I was ready to see it happen. Flying I mean, not pooping. But a pooping picture isn’t bad either.I waited and nothing happened, so then I walked up the street to where my new photographer friend was standing to get a closer up shot since he was still posing.Still more posing. A biker that I had talked with earlier came by and she said I scared her because she saw my trike and my tripod, but I wasn’t there. She thought I got snatched. Then she spotted us and was thrilled to get a shot of this eagle herself.I figured two hours was enough, and I knew I had a lot of pictures, but I waited some more when I got back to the trike. And this was my reward, he took off, but dropped straight down out of sight, no nice soaring eagle shot.
Yes, there are other amazing animals at ZooTampa, although you’d hardly know it based on my fixation with orangutans. This last trip to the zoo was our first chance to visit the newly completed Florida exhibit that has been under construction for quite a while now. Obviously we are surrounded by Florida wildlife every day, but we don’t get to see them up close and personal the way we did at the zoo.
I loved this view of a baby manatee, who looked to me like he had a smile on his face. There were heads of lettuce floating on the surface making all the manatees happy.There were ducks swimming with the manatees so I had to zoom in on this unusual view.On second thought we also visited the Malayan tiger who;s habitat is next door to the orangutans. So, no, we don’t run into tigers when we are out and about in Florida.Now I’m confused. I think we were still in the Florida exhibit, but the pink birds we saw were flamingos.Up close with this flamingo.And a spoonie, who was almost too close for a photo.I love the way the camera will ignore the mesh of the cage and focus on the subject beyond, in this case a sleepy barred owl.This little screech owl was winking at us.This iguana was posing so perfectly, begging to have his picture taken.There are two eagles at the zoo, Ross, for Betsy Ross, and Glory. I’m not sure which one this is, but Glory is celebrating 30 years at the zoo. Both eagles are not able to live in the wild, so this is their permanent home.
Of course the star of the Florida exhibit was the Florida panther in the feature photo. It was a treat to see one, and this one looked quite content in his new habitat. Later we heard that we missed the stork chicks in the Africa exhibit, but it was time to meet the group for lunch, and we were hungry. So that means another trip to the zoo will be in order, but in a few weeks, not while spring break is in full swing here.
Let me highly recommend the series from National Geographic called Secrets of ZooTampa. So much goes on behind the scenes, it’s very interesting. And, much to my delight, the segment on orangutans covered the birth of Riplee, my favorite baby boy.
A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens 