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
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