Tracking a Bald Eagle for Miles
We hadn't seen the resident Bald Eagle pair in a couple of days so we were wondering where they were hiding. We also hadn't seen any other significant wildlife such as bobcats and bears so I was feeling I needed to wander out to find something worth photographing.
Sheila and I headed out on our kayaks yesterday morning. I had three cameras in my kayak... a Sony action video camera, a Sony full-frame camera with a 70-200mm lens, and a Sony crop camera with a 400mm F5.6L lens which gives me an equivalent of 600mm. I also brought along a wide angle lens for any landscape photos that may present itself. With these cameras, I was confident I could capture photos of loons, Bald Eagles, bears, bobcats, turtles or whatever wildlife appeared.
About a mile from our lake house, I pulled to the shore to check a nice sandy beach on State land for any tracks... I saw none. We continued on down toward the dam at the end of the lake.
As we approached the end of the lake, I noticed a rock that had something red on it. I knew the red I saw could be a couple of red flowers but I decided to check it out anyway. As I navigated around all the boulders in the lake near the shore (this lake is peppered with boulders... a lot of boulders), I was able to see that it was not a couple of red flowers on that rock... it was a partially eaten catfish cut in half by a sharp beak or massive claws!
Although we were near the shore, I knew the water was still fairly deep here so I was thinking this was a sign of a Bald Eagle rather than a bear or bobcat. A bear or bobcat would have to swim to this rock and I knew that was unlikely.
Sheila and I continued down the lake with our eyes trained toward the sky and shoreline.
Next, Sheila spotted a big rock with a bunch of poop on it... upon closer inspection, it appeared consistent with a large bird. Then we saw another rock with a lot of bird poo. We hadn't seen signs like this in the past (before Bald Eagles had been spotted here late last summer) so, chances are, these were more signs of Bald Eagle activity. We've seen turtle poop on rocks in the past but this poop was larger.
We sat here in the windy, choppy water for a bit longer... scanning the sky for a large bird... scanning the shoreline for an extremely large bird nest... and we discussed all these signs as we wondered aloud how long we should linger here in the hope to see one of our two resident Bald Eagles.
I was trying to steady my kayak among boulders since my kayak was bobbing mercilessly. I knew that trying to shoot photos with a long lens while bobbing and rocking like I was would be extremely difficult if not impossible. As I was trying to figure out how to effectively steady my kayak, a bird appeared overhead... flying from the treeline toward the lake and toward the dam at the nearby end of the lake. This bird was far too small to be a hawk or eagle but we kept watching...
Suddenly, one of the Bald Eagles appeared, chasing this little bird. He quickly gave up and turned back for the treeline. I raised my camera with the long 400mm lens trying to focus on the Bald Eagle.
I suspected the eagle was heading back to this smaller bird's nest to eat some eggs or chicks that the smaller bird had vacated for its own safety.
I pointed my long lens at the eagle but my kayak was bobbing and rocking so much that I couldn't even keep this giant bird in my viewfinder. I had to take a chance though... I hoped the autofocus would quickly find the bird as he passed through my viewfinder... I kept aiming and pressing the shutter release button while trying stay pointed toward the Bald Eagle...
He quickly disappeared over the treeline on the shore... we waited... I was fairly certain that I didn't capture a single shot in focus because I could not keep him in my viewfinder since my boat was in constant violent motion... side to side, up, down, drifting, rotating, bobbing... spray from the choppy water was spraying up... flies were swarming... the only thing about being in a kayak that was working in my favor was getting myself to be in the right place at the right time.
It wasn't until we returned to the house and I uploaded my photos to my little Microsoft Surface computer that I found that I actually captured a couple of pretty good photos. I was exceptionally lucky!
Ironically, I seemed to have better luck in this bobbing and rocking kayak than I did on our deck. Perhaps it is because we were closer to the eagle this time. That being said, being closer makes it even more difficult to stay trained on a very large bird who is moving quickly. I really got lucky on this outing.
Another thing that helped us spot this Bald Eagle is that we were actually tracking him down... keeping our eyes open for clues and signs of eagle activity. Then, when we found a few signs, we sat and waited... patiently... waiting and scanning the sky... we knew we were close. Patience paid off!
We continued toward the dam and the marshland at the end of the lake. I captured a few landscape shots but the only wildlife we saw were a few geese and a couple of loons.
The paddle back home was brutal... all against the wind... against a heavy chop... I had to stow all my camera gear under the front deck of my kayak to keep it dry.
It was a fairly rough journey back home but it was worth it for this one photo!
Sheila and I headed out on our kayaks yesterday morning. I had three cameras in my kayak... a Sony action video camera, a Sony full-frame camera with a 70-200mm lens, and a Sony crop camera with a 400mm F5.6L lens which gives me an equivalent of 600mm. I also brought along a wide angle lens for any landscape photos that may present itself. With these cameras, I was confident I could capture photos of loons, Bald Eagles, bears, bobcats, turtles or whatever wildlife appeared.
About a mile from our lake house, I pulled to the shore to check a nice sandy beach on State land for any tracks... I saw none. We continued on down toward the dam at the end of the lake.
As we approached the end of the lake, I noticed a rock that had something red on it. I knew the red I saw could be a couple of red flowers but I decided to check it out anyway. As I navigated around all the boulders in the lake near the shore (this lake is peppered with boulders... a lot of boulders), I was able to see that it was not a couple of red flowers on that rock... it was a partially eaten catfish cut in half by a sharp beak or massive claws!
Although we were near the shore, I knew the water was still fairly deep here so I was thinking this was a sign of a Bald Eagle rather than a bear or bobcat. A bear or bobcat would have to swim to this rock and I knew that was unlikely.
Sheila and I continued down the lake with our eyes trained toward the sky and shoreline.
Next, Sheila spotted a big rock with a bunch of poop on it... upon closer inspection, it appeared consistent with a large bird. Then we saw another rock with a lot of bird poo. We hadn't seen signs like this in the past (before Bald Eagles had been spotted here late last summer) so, chances are, these were more signs of Bald Eagle activity. We've seen turtle poop on rocks in the past but this poop was larger.
We sat here in the windy, choppy water for a bit longer... scanning the sky for a large bird... scanning the shoreline for an extremely large bird nest... and we discussed all these signs as we wondered aloud how long we should linger here in the hope to see one of our two resident Bald Eagles.
I was trying to steady my kayak among boulders since my kayak was bobbing mercilessly. I knew that trying to shoot photos with a long lens while bobbing and rocking like I was would be extremely difficult if not impossible. As I was trying to figure out how to effectively steady my kayak, a bird appeared overhead... flying from the treeline toward the lake and toward the dam at the nearby end of the lake. This bird was far too small to be a hawk or eagle but we kept watching...
Suddenly, one of the Bald Eagles appeared, chasing this little bird. He quickly gave up and turned back for the treeline. I raised my camera with the long 400mm lens trying to focus on the Bald Eagle.
I suspected the eagle was heading back to this smaller bird's nest to eat some eggs or chicks that the smaller bird had vacated for its own safety.
I pointed my long lens at the eagle but my kayak was bobbing and rocking so much that I couldn't even keep this giant bird in my viewfinder. I had to take a chance though... I hoped the autofocus would quickly find the bird as he passed through my viewfinder... I kept aiming and pressing the shutter release button while trying stay pointed toward the Bald Eagle...
He quickly disappeared over the treeline on the shore... we waited... I was fairly certain that I didn't capture a single shot in focus because I could not keep him in my viewfinder since my boat was in constant violent motion... side to side, up, down, drifting, rotating, bobbing... spray from the choppy water was spraying up... flies were swarming... the only thing about being in a kayak that was working in my favor was getting myself to be in the right place at the right time.
It wasn't until we returned to the house and I uploaded my photos to my little Microsoft Surface computer that I found that I actually captured a couple of pretty good photos. I was exceptionally lucky!
Ironically, I seemed to have better luck in this bobbing and rocking kayak than I did on our deck. Perhaps it is because we were closer to the eagle this time. That being said, being closer makes it even more difficult to stay trained on a very large bird who is moving quickly. I really got lucky on this outing.
Another thing that helped us spot this Bald Eagle is that we were actually tracking him down... keeping our eyes open for clues and signs of eagle activity. Then, when we found a few signs, we sat and waited... patiently... waiting and scanning the sky... we knew we were close. Patience paid off!
We continued toward the dam and the marshland at the end of the lake. I captured a few landscape shots but the only wildlife we saw were a few geese and a couple of loons.
The paddle back home was brutal... all against the wind... against a heavy chop... I had to stow all my camera gear under the front deck of my kayak to keep it dry.
It was a fairly rough journey back home but it was worth it for this one photo!
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