Bald Eagles

In nineteen years of living in Northern Virginia, I've known about the presence of bald eagles. I've seen them, rarely. And of course I've heard a lot about the fight to preserve their existence. But I never thought to go looking for them, let alone photograph them.

Last Fall, I dropped my son off for a baseball game and because he couldn't play (broken arm), I didn't feel obligated to hang around to watch. It was in the Fort Hunt area, which I had never visited before, so I took a walk along the George Washington Parkway. I was at an overlook photographing Fort Washington across the river when a driver pulled up and took in the view. She mentioned that she was disappointed that there was no sign of the eagles she's previously seen there. That was all it took to pique my interest.

Over the next few weeks I did some research and learned that Bald Eagles regularly migrate through the Chesapeake Bay watershed, with many nesting sites nearby. I learned that there are several nests at Mason Neck. There are several articles online describing the refuge and how the government works to protect the nesting sites. So one sunny Fall morning I took my son for a walk in the park. Here's the best photo of that outing.

Bald Eagle at Mason Neck

Not so impressive. Even with some work in Lightroom and Photoshop, there was only so much I could do to crop it and get more detail. I just didn't have enough reach with the zoom lens I used. I did more homework and settled on a lens that I wanted, but then I had to wait until I could convince my wife to buy it and until we could afford it. After showing this photo to her, and pointing out that I could use the new lens for baseball, and that I wanted nothing else for either my birthday or Christmas, she reluctantly agreed.

With the new lens in the bag, we went to Florida at Christmas time and I shot some birds there, including ospreys, which I'll do another post about. But it was great experience shooting birds.

When we returned home, I researched more and found that one of the best places in the US for eagle photography is the Conowingo Dam. Sadly, I discovered this after the peak eagle migration. But I wanted to go, so I dragged my son out with me. We got there on a freezing, foggy morning. There wasn't much activity going on; my timing was bad. And my son was getting bored, so we left after a couple of hours. Here's the best photo from that outing.

Bald Eagle at Conowingo Dam

Again, not very impressive, but definitely an improvement on the previous photo.

Weeks later, I was out for a walk one evening in the neighborhood near a lake and caught this one.

Juvenile Bald Eagle at the Lake

So clearly I'm in a target-rich environment. I had to do a lot of processing on this one because he/she was back-lit and the sun was setting, but I think it works. Next I went to Mason Neck again, on an overcast, chilly weekend morning. I was almost immediately rewarded by this view.

Bald Eagle at Mason Neck

This was along the shore, and I didn't want to flush this bird. I know the etiquette is to avoid approaching nests while there are eggs or nestlings, but there was clearly no nest in the nearby trees, so I took a leisurely stroll to get closer, stopping occasionally for photos like this one.

Bald Eagle at Mason Neck

That was as close as I could get, and the bird eventually flew away. As I headed back toward the car, I saw this juvenile.

Juvenile Bald Eagle

Here's another shot from this outing.

Bald Eagle in Flight

So I'm learning. And one of my lessons is that overcast backgrounds suck for bird photography, particularly for bald eagles. The white heads blend into the clouds and the white background fools the light meter into underexposing the dark feathers. I've tinkered a bit with exposure compensation and I've heard the professional bird photographers' admonitions to use manual exposure mode, so I'm experimenting. I decided to wait for good weather to go out again.

In my research I learned there is a nest at Burke Lake Park. One weekend I went there with my dog, sans camera, just for some exercise and to see if I could spot the nest on the island in the lake. I saw tons of herons, heron nests, and one nest that seemed much bigger than the others. But no eagles. Just lots of herons and geese. I turned around to walk back to the car. Then I looked up and saw a pair of eagles making leisurely circles as they soared and eventually landed in trees on the island. Their white heads and tails were easy to spot. OK, here's another place to try.

Yesterday was one of those rare Spring days: clear skies, low humidity, and the first really warm day of the year. I got up early and drove to the park. As I approached the island, I saw an eagle landing in a tree near its nest. With lots of branches in the way I couldn't get any good shots. Afterward I looked at the few shots that I took anyway and discovered that there is an eaglet in the nest, clearly visible, but I blew the focus. As I walked farther along the lake shore looking for a better angle, I suddenly noticed this bird.

Preening Bald Eagle

OK, this is promising. I hung around, shooting as he/she looked around, and I was hoping for some flight shots. There wasn't much action, save for the photographer who came running up the path to shoot the birds. After a while this crow came up and annoyed the eagle.

Crow Annoying Eagle

Eventually the eagle flew away and I finally got a few bird-in-flight shots.

Eagle in Flight

The eagle flew to an area beyond a peninsula in the lake. I waited for some more action, but eventually gave up and went to the tip of the peninsula to see if I could find it. Nothing. I sat on the bench there for a while. Still nothing. I got up to leave and saw that this bird had perched behind me.

Bald Eagle

As I tried to get a better angle, he/she flew away, and that was the end of the shooting for the day.

So, I'm learning and I think the results are getting better. I've seen eagles at Conowingo, Mason Neck, Burke Lake, and my neighborhood. And later this year I'll stop by Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge as I take my son to/from space camp at Wallops Island. The birds are here; I just have to figure out how to best make pictures of them.