On Sunday Feb. 24, 2008 I traveled from Anchorage to Seward and back, about 250 miles round-trip, taking photos of birds, and shooting 220 pictures along the way. I'll post a few of the of the better pictures.
Two Bald Eagles, one adult and one immature, were perched low in trees at the edges of the parking lot, next to the Placer River overflow bridge.
Gary
This message was edited Feb 25, 2008 9:06 PM
Good gosh! Is that real?! That is amazing!!
The sun just coming above the mountains revealed the Eagles had been roosted there all night, by a thin coating of hoar frost on their feathers, glittering in the sun light. I suspected the eagles had been scavenging from the many snowmobilers who use the parking lot, because they didn't pay much attention to me. I took a lot of head shot pictures of the adult. Sure glad I don't have to sleep where the frost would condense on me.
For some unexplained reason, Bald Eagles usually look mad when they are starring straight at you.
The immature eagle wasn't nearly as photogenic, and only rated a couple of shots.
Typo.
This message was edited Feb 26, 2008 7:10 AM
There were a lot of eagles along the waterfront in Seward. This one perched on a drift wood stump, was one of six in a 100 foot radius.
This immature Eagle was one of the six mentioned above. It stayed behind when the bird on the stump flew off. I'll add a few other species later.
Gary.
Those young Eagles sure aren't majestic, are they? But their day will come. Great shots Gary!
Wonderful, wonderful.
Great pictures as allways. I enjoyed them very much.
Nice to see your Bald Eagle photos. Great shots. It looks like you had a nice trip. Hope to see some more of your photos. How many hours of sunlight do you have now ? That was at least a 5-6 hour round-trip.
Awesome, Gary!!! Every year dh and I try to figure out a way to do a trip to Alaska and we just never seem to be able to do it!!
Wonderful photos Gary. LOL your straight on mad looking one reminds me of the look my dad used to give me as he said "you make a better door than a window" when I would get between him & the TV. Maybe lunch is on the other side of you.
Beautiful photos!
Awesome photos - that first one is absolutely amazing! But then again, they all are!
Really really nice. It was well worth the trip, for such nice pics.
Very great pics! Look forward to seeing the rest from your trip!
I met a lady feeding the Northwestern Crows in a vacant lot at the south end of 6th. St. near the bay. The image is reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds", for anyone will to admit they are old enough to remember the movie. She told me she made a mistake on Saturday when she fed them dog food. The Gull were attracted to the dog food, and she hadn't intended to be feeding the Gulls. She said, "Hungry Gulls to be eating Sunflower seed, I'd never seen that before."
How many hours of sunlight do you have now ?
Birds of several different species are developing deformed bills in Southcentral Alaska. The cause is still unknown. One of the Northwestern Crows, in the above picture, had the deformity. The bill grows long and crosses as seen in this closeup.
Bombs away! Watch out below!
Ava & Carol Eads have a 30 foot long open porch, which is one giant bird feeder. We visited them and took many pictures. A few Pine Siskins on the porch.
I took so many close ups of the Pine Siskins it is difficult to select a couple to post. During the Great Backyard Bird count last week, only 20 Pine Siskins have been reported for Anchorage to date. But, they are wintering over in large numbers on the other side of the mountains in Seward, where flocks in the hundreds can be seen at the Eads.
This message was edited Feb 26, 2008 10:43 AM
Ava with a bird in the hand.
Very cool!
Viewed from a distance, the Pine Siskin is a rather nondescript little bird.
A male Pine Siskin in breeding plumage flaunts his yellow markings. In direct sun light the yellow becomes iridescent, and flashes with every movement, in the light. Notice they don't seen to care which way is up.
This message was edited Feb 26, 2008 1:35 PM
A Black-capped Chickadee with a deformed bill. This bird seems to have difficulty eating, and set up residence on the porch with its endless supply food.
Gary, I hope the experts are able to discover the reason for the deformed bills. How worrisome.
Loving your photos.
Scary to think how that may effect bird populations in the coming years.
