Bald Eagles on Ice

at Lake Mary

Uploaded 2/12/05

 On a hot tip from a friend, we headed up to an area just south of Flagstaff last weekend to try to get more shots of Arizona's Bald Eagles. We were rewarded with the sighting of over half a dozen eagles and also spotted a large Red Tailed Hawk, and two juvenile Bald Eagles next to the road in a dead tree. The Canadian Geese were also on the scene, hundreds of them on the partially frozen lake. The Bald Eagles have a peculiar habit of landing on the frozen lake, and chasing each other around on the ice. Wide angle shots are with our new 17 - 40mm L lens, and telephoto are with the manual 400mm lens.

Click on thumbnails for 1024 x 768 full size image (50 - 100kB)

The San Francisco Peaks looking over Mormon Lake along Lake Mary Road
Ice crystals on a frozen Pond along the roadway
Close up of ice crystals growing on the grass, on top of the sheet of water clear ice
Our first Bald Eagle was huge, standing nearly 3 feet tall and over 6ft wingspan.
We saw several Eagles circling overhead too.
We watched as this Eagle landed on the ice, maybe looking for food.
Looking our way
Another Eagle on ice, at least three of them landed on the ice.
The first of two Juvenile Bald eagles, less than three years old. Note brown eye.
Probably its sibling, this second juvenile looked a bit more Bald Eagle like in profile.
A full grown Red Tailed Hawk perched on a ponderosa Pine
Closer view showing better details.
High speed burst shutter flight sequence of Red Tailed Hawk 1
Flight 2
Flight 3
Second flight sequence 1
Flight 2
Flight 3
Hundreds of Canadian Geese on Ice shelves and open water

Camera: Canon 10D 6.3 Mpix Platform: Bogen Tripod or Handheld Exposure: Aperture Priority Location: Mormon Lake and Lake Mary near Flagstaff, Az Elevation: 6800 ft. Outside Temperature: 40F Processing: Photoshop CS. CS Pro HOME
 

 
 


FastCounter by bCentral