Bald eagle in Bragg
Found a bald eagle in a branch above a couple of ravens that were on the ground. There must have been something that they were fighting over with the eagle for breakfast. When the raptor launched it angled away from me but I had a good side shot for a second.
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A bald eagle in flight with its prey
A few weeks ago, there were several bald eagles hunting for prairie dogs in the fields west of the Springbank Airport. I’m not sure if these rodents were just coming out of their holes, the eagles were migrating through or something else was behind this congregation. No matter why, the eagles were making hunting runs on the far side of one field at one point in the afternoon. One of these saw one eagle fly back towards where I was standing. That provided a great opportunity for a few in flight shots.
This eagle flew past me and far beyond before landing so I did not take any photographs of the meal. If you are interested, I have posted here previously of another eagle from the same day that I found eating from a perch in a tree. I realize that may be unappealing – but some people are interested. Either way, here are a couple more of this eagle as it passed overhead.
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An eagle in the trees
A couple of weeks ago, a raven’s cawing drew my attention to a small line of trees near the Springbank airport. The raven’s dark shape was fluttering something and when I got a little closer I could see this bald eagle. It was lunchtime and the eagle was not interested in sharing. The raven soon took off and left the eagle to finish the prairie dog just caught in the surrounding fields. The eagle gave a few hard stares to the occasional magpie that came by but for the most part lunch went uninterrupted.
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Bald eagles flying around their dinner perch
Watching these two eagles for an hour back in March, I am convinced they are the pair who will occupy the large nest perched in these trees over a pond on a farm on the high prairie east of the Crowsnest Pass.
Both had no difficulty catching the ground squirrels in the fields surrounding the pond. When they did, they returned to this branch to eat – possibly for the company. It was very cool to be a stone’s throw away from the wonderful creatures. At close range, I was reminded how big these birds are.
Other eagles circled the water as well but none seemed paired up like these two which leads me to believe they “own” the nest. I’ll get back there soon and see where things stand now!
There were a lot of fun shots to choose from which I whittled down to these few here. It was, obviously, a well spent afternoon by my standards.
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Spread eagle
With the steady wind that was blowing, this near-mature Bald eagle only had to open its massive wing to take flight. With the ~2 metre wingspan it easily glided over to a neighbouring tree where a couple other eagles were perched. It was another great weekend on the high Prairie east of Lundbreck watching eagles.
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A Bald eagle’s Prairie flight
Watching birds in flight is a source of great pleasure for me. Perhaps it’s the freedom I imagine they enjoy (written just as two ravens glided by my window, acrobatically playing on the air currents outside) or the grace that many of them carry into the sky. When I have the gift of watching them close to the ground, it gives a different perspective and one that I particularly enjoy photographing.
So when two of the four bald eagles that watched for quite a while on the weekend glided off of their tree perch and landed out on the field nearby, I was excited. I had hoped they may dive on the prairie dogs as they passed by. They did not, it seemed that an alert had gone up as the little creatures were nowhere to be seen at that moment, and they alighted in the short grass. They chirped a little at each other but it seemed like they were just enjoying the sunshine as they stood in their respective spots for close to ten minutes. The adolescent launched first – I wanted to blur the wings in flight so I dragged my shutter. I’m still evaluating those results – we’ll see another day if I think they are worth sharing.
When the mature eagle lifted off the Prairie, I kept the shutter speed fast to freeze the motion and panned with the beautiful bird as it powerfully drove past.
When it buzzed a magpie that had also been sitting in the field, that bird flew up and in front of the eagle for a short ways. The eagle’s eyes were on this diminutive cousin of the raven and the crow but it was undeterred as it flew back towards its small convocation.
As it gained a little altitude, I liked the way the elements in the background looked in soft focus.
At one moment during this short flight it did look down at the field at one point – again raising my hopes of a dive – but nothing like that came of it.
Both eagles rejoined the other two that had remained in the tree. They all remained there for an hour before hunting over the fields individually later.
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Eagle ways
At one point when I was watching the group of Bald eagles I found east of the Crowsnest Pass last weekend, one of the adults landed in a tree close to where I was set up. Looking closely, I saw that he had a Prairie dog in one of its claws.
He finished the meal quickly and then set about cleaning its beak and talons. He used the stubs on the branch to rub against and as leverage during the cleaning. I was fascinated with the fastidiousness with which he carried out this work.
When that was done, he provided a few great poses for portrait shots while scanning the fields for more creatures and the skies for his fellow eagles.
After a few minutes, he flew off to a larger tree nearby where the other three eagles were perched.
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A Bald eagle’s branch dance
I found an aerie of four Bald eagles east of the Crowsnest Pass this weekend. They perched in still dormant trees that divide up several farm fields. From these perches, they can hunt for the ground squirrels that scurry between their holes among the short grass. This eagle had just finished his meal and I caught him adjusting his position on the branch. It looked a bit like a line dancing sidestep to me.
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An eagle in the woods
There was a murder of crows circling a wooded spot east of Bragg Creek that caught my attention. I was driving into Calgary and pulled over to see what was going on. At that moment, this Bald eagle flew out of the trees and blasted through the middle of the group. They scattered and the eagle landed on a branch close by.
Whatever had drawn these opportunists in must have been deeper in the woods as I couldn’t see anything from where I was parked. While the eagle looked around I had time to switch lenses in favour of the longest one I have so I was able to get in quite close. The detail in the feathers was nice especially with the strong lighting – the relatively low angle of the sun in winter helped me here.
After a couple of minutes the eagle launched and banked into the forest. The crows had not yet returned so I imagined that he was hoping to finish his meal before being bothered again.
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Eagle along the Cowboy Trail
Canon 5DIII and 500mm lens: 1/5oooth of a second on f/4 and ISO 1600
A Bald Eagle spent a couple of mornings in and around a field east of Bragg Creek where the prairie starts.
Canon 5DIII and 500mm lens: 1/5oooth of a second on f/4 and ISO 1600
He landed in the grass in one general spot a few times on the two days that I stopped to watch so I suspect there was a carcass that was an easy meal.
Canon 5DIII and 500mm lens: 1/25ooth of a second on f/4 and ISO 800
The only distraction came from a pair of ravens that pestered the eagle in the air and on the field. They proved to not be a significant deterrent as the eagle muscled them out away.
Canon 5DIII and 500mm lens: 1/5oooth of a second on f/4 and ISO 800
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An eagle’s easy snack
Canon 5DIII and 24-105mm lens at 99mm: 1/100oth of a second on f/4 and ISO 400
We had a great afternoon in Prince Rupert today. The marina in Cow Bay was busy with boats of many different stripes coming and going throughout the day. Seals popped up amongst the boats looking for scraps from the fishermen – a quick snack between meals. While several Bald Eagles flew by overhead looking for a similar handout. One group cleaned and divided up several large Halibut on one of the tables on the dock. This drew in the seals and one eagle. The seals made out quite well and at the end, a chunk of fish was left beside the table for the eagle.
Canon 5DIII and 24-105mm lens at 105mm: 1/250oth of a second on f/4 and ISO 1000
It swooped down from its piling, grabbed the fish and then flew off to eat. I was watching from across the marina on a wharf. When the eagle left the dock, it flew towards the wharf and flew right under me as it headed away. A good start to the weekend.
Canon 5DIII and 24-105mm lens at 70mm: 1/40oth of a second on f/4 and ISO 1000
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Eagle Skirmishes
An eagle enjoying a feast is not often left alone for too long in Brackendale. Finished spawning, the salmon drift downriver listlessly and eventually die naturally or with the assistance of the scavengers along the rivers. The effort is in pulling the fish out of the water. When that is done, competition often arrives to stake a claim. Skirmishes, jousting and all out fights can breakout before one eagle is chased off.
This eagle was unchallenged as we floated past but it kept its head on a swivel wary of potential thieves.
In another spot, there were a lot of fish along the rocks and a lot of eagles vying for them.
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Occasionally, as in the photograph below, an equilibrium of sorts will be found where a few eagles will take turns on a fish with little aggression.
However, one eagle soon came screaming in and upset the delicate balance.
There are many gulls that wait for opportunities to grab bits out of the water. When eagles aren’t around, they have similar battles over prime spots.
Christopher Martin Photography 