Hawk and Eagles at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge

I finished work early and noticed how nice the weather was this afternoon, so I headed to the refuge. I had the place to myself; no cars in the parking lot.

When I reached the road along the shore, I caught a glimpse of a large, dark bird. I kept flushing it because it flew away from me, along the shore, in the same direction I was walking. It was too small to be an eagle, too big for most anything else. I finally got a shot of it.

Elusive Bird

It flew away again and I thought I'd missed my chance to get a decent shot of it. I rounded a bend in the road and there it was.

Red-Shouldered Hawk

Just my luck, it's in front of an outhouse. It was finally still, with an unobstructed view, and my background is a toilet. It stood there for a while eating something and looking around occasionally. It never did see me while it was on the ground. Finally, it took off, and I was hoping for a shot with a better background. But it simply tried to land on the outhouse, and there was a loud scraping/scratching sound as its talons kept slipping on the plastic.

Hawk Tries to Grip the Outhouse

It circled the area a couple of times, sometimes too close to get the bird in the frame, so I have some unusable shots of part of the bird. But I did get this one.

Hawk in Flight

And one more...

Hawk in Flight

And then it flew into the woods. So I kept walking, and within a minute or so I flushed a juvenile bald eagle that I hadn't even seen in a tree next to the road. Like the hawk before it, the eagle flew along the shore in the same direction I was walking. I wasn't able to photograph it because the view was quickly obstructed by trees, but I was able to observe it fly to and land on a tree that contains a vacant osprey nest. Looking through the lens, here's what I saw.

Adult and Juvenile Bald Eagles

So now I had a chance at some eagles. I hustled along the road, which curves and is surrounded by trees and brush, so I knew I could approach without being seen. So I got into position, and the juvenile just wouldn't cooperate; he/she kept looking away.

Bald Eagles

Soon the adult flew away. The juvenile hung around a little longer.

Juvenile Bald Eagle

And then the juvenile flew away. Both eagles flew away from me so the in-flight shots were unusable.

So I started walking again, looking to see if maybe they had landed somewhere visible, when suddenly this adult flew right past me, approaching me from behind.

Bald Eagle

And that was the end of the bird show.

Ospreys

I finished work early and wanted to do something outside on this beautiful sunny (hot) day. So I headed home to change and get my camera. I went to OBNWR and wandered around looking for eagles. I saw one juvenile circling too high to photograph, and as I walked along the shore, a mature eagle flew right over me and disappeared beyond the trees before I could get the camera up. So, no luck with eagles this trip.

But the ospreys are still there. I expect them to leave for their migration by the end of the month. The nests are all empty of juveniles. In various trips there I've seen two platforms and three trees with nests and juveniles. There were still ospreys hanging around some of the nests, but these were all able to fly.

Speaking of flying, there were only a few osprey flight events, most too far away to shoot or with an obstructed view. But I did get this flight event.

VH-3D Sea King

I sometimes see the presidential aircraft flying around, usually alone, which would indicate that the president is not aboard. I presume when I see a single helicopter like this one flying around the local area it's just a training mission.

The few bird-in-flight shots that I got were not keepers, but I'll include one here anyway.


Osprey Defecating in Flight

Birds often defecate right before takeoff, but I'd never seen one lighten its load in flight like this. Maybe he/she was telling me something.

Speaking of telling me something, I heard a very vocal osprey as I walked the road near the shore. It was making a lot of noise long before I arrived; I don't think it was complaining about me. But it definitely spotted me when I got close.


I See You!

A nearly-fruitless visit today... But I'm glad I went because it was a good walk, in spite of the heat.