I appreciate your patience as I revise this site. Comments, thoughts, or just a friendly chat, use the response box below or email me at patrickgroleau@gmail.com.

May 25, 2019

EAGLES & OSPREY


... liz joined me and we drove over to below the dam in benton to do a little eagle watching ... 
  

... last year we counted 150 eagles in this spot, and we estimated that there were the same number hidden in the trees ... not so many right now, but i think the numbers'll increase as the water flow diminishes ...
  

... this is what draws the birds, alwives, an anadromous member of the herring family ... every year since the dam was removed in winslow they have been returning to their ancestral homes to spawn, and in response the eagles, herons, and osprey have resumed their traditional feeding behaviors ... 


... it's fascinating to watch the birds as they rocket across the surface of the stream in search of the tasty alwives ... 
  

... eagles eat anything, even carrion, while the osprey are very choosy and will dine only on live fish ... 
  

... i took most of these shots from a distance using my [ancient] 300mm f/4.5 ed nikkor telephoto ... manual exposure, manual focus, i'd say i bought it because it's "classic" but in truth it's what i could afford ... still, it's clear that thirty years hasn't diminished its capabilities ... most of these pictures were shot at i.s.o. 800-1200, then cropped down to about 30% of the original ... hopefully, in a few days i'll be able to get some close-up shots of these fascinating creatures ...
  

... some work hard, some don't, seems the avian world isn't all that different from ours ...