Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge

I went to the refuge this morning hoping for a look at the eaglets that I knew must be pretty large by now. The nest by the water was disappointing. The leaves are in and they obscure the nest enough to make it very difficult to see much of it. There was an eagle perched in a tree nearby, too far away and too still to be interesting.

The other nest also had an eagle perched nearby, still and obscured. I was about to give up when I noticed movement within the nest. There are (at least) two eaglets in that nest. I was unable to get clear shots of any of these birds. Here's what this tree looked like.

Parent Eagle Babysitting Juvenile in Nest

 The ospreys were also there, and much more active. I have so many osprey shots that I only shoot when I get something pretty close and clear.

Osprey

Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge

I went out again on a chilly morning. The eagles really seem to like the same osprey nest, and it was the only place where I was able to find them.

Bald Eagles on Osprey Nest

They flew away, one, then a few minutes later, the other. And they flew away from me, so I wasn't able to get any usable flight shots.

Given that this was a relatively uneventful trip, I'll add two shots from previous visits that I haven't published. I drove the wildlife loop after walking in the refuge one evening, and I was able to capture these deer from the car.

Deer

And on another trip, I rounded a bend in the road and saw this fox, totally unaware of the rabbit (who eventually ran into the deep grass).

Fox and Rabbit

It was so dark, I was actually lucky to be able to get this shot at all, and I couldn't get both animals in focus because I was shooting as wide-open as I could, with ISO cranked up as high as I dared. And it still wound up at 1/250, so I'm surprised the fox is as sharp as he/she is.