June 28th, 2013 – Avian Friday: Bald Eagle

In the past I had heard about the Bald Eagles that congregate at Big Beef Creek in Seabeck, Washington. Tha area was familiar to me from previous fall Salmon fishing trips over at Hood Canal. Last weekend I finally managed to make a trip over to photograph the eagles. During this time of the year we get some really low tides here in Western Washington. During these low tides the Eagles congregate to feed on bullheads, eels and even shellfish that are either exposed in the shallows or previously caught by Great Blue Herons. The Baldies are notorious for stealing prey from other predators as well as from each other. I caught up with my friend Tim Kuhn and a host of other nature photographers most of whom were also wielding super-telephoto lenses. The action lasted for about a couple of hours before the tide went all the way out and the birds settled on the beach content with their meals. Here’s one of my shots of a juvenile keeping an eye out for an easy target.

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus )

Seattle Washington 
700mm | 1/4000th Sec. @f/5.6 | ISO 250

Canon 5D Mark III+ Canon EF 500/4L IS USM + EFS 1.4X Rear Extender

Processed with Lightroom 4, Photoshop CS6, Nik Software Suite.

To see a larger version please click on the image.

Feel free to comment below if you like what you see or have any other observations.

Thanks for stopping by,

JayT

Tags: Bird-in-flight, Birds, Canon EF 500mm f4.0 L IS USM, Nature photography, Raptors

• June 28, 2013
• Birds in Flight, Nature photography
• 1 Comment