first eagle

Harryb · December 16, 2004

Hi you'll,

This past weekend I was giving some visitng NYers the $5 tour of the Viera Wetlands. I was driving down the narrow, unpaved road when I slammed on the brakes because perched on the dead tree ahead of us was a bald eagle. This was the first time I've seen one outside of a zoo and I was a tad excited.

I wanted to get closer but the road went directly in front of him and I was afraid I would spook him if I got closer. Also, I noticed another photographer was already shooting from the side and I didn't want to spoil his shots even though he was shooting a Canon.

Harry

Harryb · December 16, 2004

2nd shot

Harryb · December 16, 2004

mandatory flight shot

ehughes · December 16, 2004

Those are great Harry,

I have yet to see a Bald Eagle in the wild. I have a trip planned in Feb to go check them out.

PS
I'll try to ignore the Canon remark......:gun2

Andy · December 16, 2004

ehughes wrote:

Those are great Harry,

I have yet to see a Bald Eagle in the wild. I have a trip planned in Feb to go check them out.

PS
I'll try to ignore the Canon remark......:gun2

y'all have to excuse harry's manners - somewhat typical of nikon users

ps: nice boid harry!

Harryb · December 16, 2004

Thanks Ed
Hey Ed,

When you go after the eagels make sure you have some reach. My shots are heavily cropped and I was using my 80-400 lens. They are a thrill when you see them. I was so caught up when he took to flight there was a delay before I realized I was trying to get a shot.

Hey I was nice to the Canon guy, I didn't ruin his shot. I realized he was shooting with a handicap (he didn't have enough reach, he was using the 70-200) so I gave him all the help I could. I always try to help out Canon shooters.

Harry

jwear · December 16, 2004

GREAT SHOTS HARRY ,[eagles are not easy] shot about 100 in alaska years back pre digitail and only had 2 i liked if i had been able to look at my shots i would have had many more after i made the up for the speed .All birds of prey are kodak moments again MR H GREAT SHOTS

oh Harry got my vr yesterday

Jeff

Steve Cavigliano · December 16, 2004

Harryb wrote:

Hey Ed,

When you go after the eagels make sure you have some reach. My shots are heavily cropped and I was using my 80-400 lens. They are a thrill when you see them. I was so caught up when he took to flight there was a delay before I realized I was trying to get a shot.

Hey I was nice to the Canon guy, I didn't ruin his shot. I realized he was shooting with a handicap (he didn't have enough reach, he was using the 70-200) so I gave him all the help I could. I always try to help out Canon shooters.

Harry

Awwwww man, I want one too :cry Nice shots Harry, you lucky dog

You are right, they are a thrill to see. I'd have probably dropped my camera in the mud, I'd be so amped up....

I get that way with hawks and herons, an eagle would push me over the edge (since I've already got my toes curled over it...lol).

Reach is the magic word. I used to think that 400-500mm's would get me close. I was way off on that one

Even with the Bigma's close to 800mm reach, big raptors only fill a very small portion of the frame. Meaning that you only have 100-200kb of image data to work with, if you're lucky.

@ you being nice to the Canon guy :lol As for him shooting with the 70-200mm, maybe he was using a 1.4X, or even a 2X, TC under that 70-200. Which would have leveled the playing field some

Anyhow, thanks for sharing these.

Steve

Harryb · December 16, 2004

what do you mean

andy wrote:

y'all have to excuse harry's manners - somewhat typical of nikon users

I got fine manners. I just mentioned that I had to assist that poor guy shooting a Canon. Those Canon shooters usually do need some help.

ps: nice boid harry!

Thank you. Shooting eagles is a tad different than shooting NYC pigeons.

Harry

Harryb · December 16, 2004

you are going to love that lens Jeff

jwear wrote:

GREAT SHOTS HARRY ,[eagles are not easy] shot about 100 in alaska years back pre digitail and only had 2 i liked if i had been able to look at my shots i would have had many more after i made the up for the speed .All birds of prey are kodak moments again MR H GREAT SHOTS oh Harry got my vr yesterday Jeff

Thanks Jeff. I can't wait to see what you and that 70-200VR do together.

Harry

FLEMING7155 · December 16, 2004

Harryb wrote:

mandatory flight shot

awsome pic id love to see one in the wild . i lived in new york for 14 yrs and never seen one , luck you

mikerad53 · December 16, 2004

I have bird-envy..............my hawk pales!

davev · December 16, 2004

Harryb wrote:

Hi you'll,

This past weekend I was giving some visitng NYers the $5 tour of the Viera Wetlands. I was driving down the narrow, unpaved road when I slammed on the brakes because perched on the dead tree ahead of us was a bald eagle. This was the first time I've seen one outside of a zoo and I was a tad excited.

I wanted to get closer but the road went directly in front of him and I was afraid I would spook him if I got closer. Also, I noticed another photographer was already shooting from the side and I didn't want to spoil his shots even though he was shooting a Canon.

Harry

Good shots Harry. You've turned into quite a bird watcher since moving south.
Eagles are fun to see even here in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
In the spring when they start to head up north, there is a small town
named Wabasha. It's about 70 miles south of the twin cities, and it's on the
Mississippi river. The eagles follow the river to the north. For a few days
in the spring, the trees along the river are full of eagles. We talked to
some folks there and they told of one weekend a few years back, that
they counted over 500 eagles. The wife and I went down there last year
in Feburary and only saw a couple of dozen of them, and none close
enough for a real good shot. The National Eagle center is there also.
They had 3 injured eagles in their care. The birds are used for classroom
info and awareness.
I hope you don't mind, here's a pic with my wife (5'-6") standing by a
full grown eagle. the birds are huge.

Happy Holidays.
dave.

Anyway, nice pics Harry.

Tim Kirkwood · December 16, 2004

Harry these are great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love eagles! I collect them (not the reals ones but you know.....)

I wish I lived somewhere where I could just be out drivin and see such a site....

Thanks for sharing!!!!!!!!

Ric Grupe · December 16, 2004

Great!
I envy this one!

Not much to say...I know how I felt those many years ago up at the Boundry Waters when I shot my first Baldy.

Congratulations

Harry.

fish · December 16, 2004

davev wrote:

I hope you don't mind, here's a pic with my wife (5'-6") standing by a
full grown eagle. the birds are huge.

Wow! Is it any wonder this is the symbol of America? Nice touch having the flag in the background too.

Anyway, nice pics Harry.

I concur completely! Truly majestic.

Harry, I hope you're not too cheesed-off at me for sticking your head on a sodajerk's body. Just funnin', ya know?

Harryb · December 17, 2004

not to worry Fish
Harry, I hope you're not too cheesed-off at me for sticking your head on a sodajerk's body. Just funnin', ya know?[/QUOTE]I loved it. I would had responded in that thread but I thought it was getting old and figured to let it slide on down.

Nothing much cheeses me off any more except maybe Andy's table manners when he has a plate of ribs before him. Its a sight no civiized person should be subected to.

Harry

Andy · December 17, 2004

he was a bread jerk

fish wrote:

Harry, I hope you're not too cheesed-off at me for sticking your head on a sodajerk's body. Just funnin', ya know?

get yer food / drink purveyors straight there, fish-mongerel

Andy · December 17, 2004

my "ribs" radar went off
but alas, it was just you, old, man, foaming at the mouth again

hey, steve and i had another good shoot tonight in cali -- little shooting and a lotta eatin' - italian tonight. missed you...

cheers,

a

Harryb wrote:

Harry, I hope you're not too cheesed-off at me for sticking your head on a sodajerk's body. Just funnin', ya know?

I loved it. I would had responded in that thread but I thought it was getting old and figured to let it slide on down.

Nothing much cheeses me off any more except maybe Andy's table manners when he has a plate of ribs before him. Its a sight no civiized person should be subected to.

Harry[/QUOTE]

Harryb · December 17, 2004

Hey Steve,

Steve Cavigliano wrote:

Awwwww man, I want one too :cry Nice shots Harry, you lucky dog You are right, they are a thrill to see. I'd have probably dropped my camera in the mud, I'd be so amped up.... I get that way with hawks and herons, an eagle would push me over the edge (since I've already got my toes curled over it...lol).

Come on down to Florida and I'll get you one of your own. :heh

We never have enough reach. I took a local workshop right before the Reznick workshop as part of our annual Birding and Wildlife Festival. The pro running it let me look through her setup. She was shooting with a Canon (maybe she wasn't that much of a pro ) 600mm lens with a 2x tele-extender. Now that's reach. She was shooting witha film camera but can you imagine how far she could have gone witha digital and the 1.6x factor?

I'm always nice to Canon shooters. I figure they need all the help I can give them.

Harry

Harryb · December 17, 2004

I Know the feeling

FLEMING7155 wrote:

awsome pic id love to see one in the wild . i lived in new york for 14 yrs and never seen one , luck you

I had lived in NYC for 57 years and never saw one except at the Flushing Zoo.
Thanks for the kind words.

Harry

Harryb · December 17, 2004

balderdash

mikerad53 wrote:

I have bird-envy..............my hawk pales!

Its never a comparison between shots but rather did we get the best shot we could in our individual situations. Yours was a fine shot.

Harry

lynnma · December 17, 2004

Couple of years back I was in a canoe on Lake Umbagog in NH under a dead tree atop which was perched a bald eagle... we drifted around and around watching him sooooo closup.. oh if only I'd had my drebel than... I woulda had loads...

Harryb · December 17, 2004

Hey Dave
That shot of your wife and the eagle really gives a good perspective on how big they are. Good shot also. They are magnificant.

Thanks for the kind comments.

Harry

Ann McRae · December 17, 2004

Gorgeous bird, Harry!
Great job.

ann

Trish323 · December 18, 2004

Hi Harry!

Yea! ya got the eagle!Great Captures of Him. And BTW...the tour should have been higher priced since it included an eagle!!

first eagle

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