A cool, crisp late fall day under a bright mid-morning sun seemed like a perfect setting to get out on my bike and put in a few miles before completing some projects. Just a couple of miles in brought me by a large lake partially frozen over where on eagle sat watching over the water for a potential meal while a brave crow tried to scare it away. It would have been nice to have my camera with as this eagle was relatively close and didn’t seem to care I was there watching. Without anything more than my phone I snapped a few photos and continued on my way. Another couple of miles brought me to more open water with hundreds of ducks floating on it. I decided a quick look would be nice and that’s when I began to see a few more eagles flying overhead.
Stopping to take in the scene and try to figure out what kind of ducks where swimming in the water I began to notice even more eagles perched in trees nearby. As I watched more I saw one eagle after another. Some flying while others remained perched in trees. Counting there were over two dozen eagles in this one little area. Must have been migrating south as the lakes and rivers began to freeze over further north. At this point I was really missing my camera as there were some amazing shots waiting to be taken here. After a little more time I decided it was time to head for home as there was much to do. As I was leaving the eagles let me ride right underneath the trees they were perched in. Amazing birds to view up close!
On the way back home I decided I had to grab the camera and try to get a few photos of all of these eagles in one area. Quickly returning I found all of the eagles had left. Now what? With so much I needed to get done back home I decided a better plan of action was to drive around the area and see if I could find these eagles. After checking out several different spots and a few hours I eventually came across several eagles and decided to spend the rest of the afternoon watching them as they were really too far away for good photos. That of course did not stop me from trying which resulted in the pictures for this post.
Over the course of an hour I counted about twelve different eagles photographing most of them and watching them through my telephoto lens as they circled the little open water that remained, caught fish, and flew to perches to eat their catch. In between eagles, flock and flock of ducks would fly over either entering the open water or leaving for another spot. Most of these appeared to be common mergansers with some ring-neck ducks mixed in. I’ve never seen so many common mergansers before. Unfortunately none of these eagles gave me much opportunity for a great shot but I still had a fun afternoon observing and learning how they interact. It would have been nice to spend many more days following this one in search of more eagles, looking for a beautiful shot but other priorities took over. Hopefully there will be more opportunities in the future to try again.
