A gathering of Eagle's at Old Woman's Creek

I visited Old Woman's Creek this past Wednesday and got shots I never thought I would get, "not that great of quality" however, as there is only one platform on to which to view and photograph the Eagle's, and almost every shot faces the sun which is low this time of year. Some of these are shot with my 250mm lens and with a 500mm f8 preset lens. Most of shots are in silhouette from the direction I had to shoot, plus the preset len's isn't very good but these shot's paid for it the way they turned out. I will be heading back out there again tomorrow hopefully. The wind was blowing straight into my face 20-30mph gusts and it was cold, but I shot away.

First few are with the 250mm lens and could have been better if I would have adjusted the settings (doh).

These 2 Eagle's were goofing off when I first got there.

250mm no.2

number 3

number 4

number 5

number 6

number 7, was hoping to get a shot of this routine and i did

one of the 2 nearly right over me

I have quite a few with the preset 500mm, this is where I shoot towards the sun and had to manually focus but like I said I snapped away.

An Eagle caught a shad from the creek and the chase was on.

number 2

another joins the chase

I counted 26 Eagle's and others were claiming they had counted 30 or more.

more of the chase

This shot looked Kool.

and another joins the chase

things are starting to heat up..

an adult joins the chase

others join the chase

7 flying Eagle's in one frame never thought Id see that...

One of my favorites

there were about a dozen all together in the chase, then it broke up and no one could steal the fish

this adult was catching the current

2nd of the adult

really liked this shot

45 min. was about all I could tolerate with the cold windy condition's...the hand warmer's made it last that long

I left shortly after this shot..burrrr, darn, dang, lol

This is all for now, but this tree is the main tree where they gather.

Great series of eagle photos, Burd. It's always thrilling to watch them maneuver through the air. And, I know what you mean about standing out there in the cold. Looking forward to tomorrow's photos. Hope you have another great visit. Are they seeing any Golden Eagles in this area ?

Thx Linth! Every now and then a Golden Eagle gets spotted in Black Swamp area (that would be Erie, Ottawa counties) here in Ohio. It would definitely be a chance meeting with that bird up here. I hoping to get half of what I did Wednesday come tomorrow. This gathering happens every January into early February then it breaks up, and then it will be just be the regular nesting couple's who have had nest's at the creek for quite a long time.

Tell them to catch their own fish. You would miss out on some great photos however.

Nice ones Burd!

Burd, great shots, I live in Pa near Lake Erie. I just spotted 2 BEs flying over head when I was in my hot tub last Saturday. They separated and one flew to the south out of sight and the other to the north in a circle pattern.
I have been spotting more BEs without actually looking for them. Thanks for sharing.

A fantastic group of photos!

Ditto!

What a wonderful time you must of had just watching these beauties! It's too bad we didn't get to hear the screeching from these raptors as they played. Great job!

Sensational action shots there, Burd. What a sight to see. In the first few pics, you can see the juveniles looking at each other whilst they're having fun. It's a pity you had to cut it short because of the cold. Wonderful thread and I look forward to more.

Thank you for the nice comments all! Maybe next year I'll have a prime lens.

I took the trip back out to the Creek, and conditions were nearly identical to Wednesday's. I lasted 45min. again. lol
Not much to report, this time I only see about 10 or so, scattered amongst the tree's. But I did notice one of the (home) adults standing by the next (long shot but viewable).

Don't know when I will go back, maybe next week depending the weather. I have a few shots to add from both days.

1st is the nest shot I mentioned. Cropped to see the bird.

Found 2 more today kind of playing tag again.

.....

That last shot I was curious to see a black and white photo so the edit.

number 4

From Wednesday