A 15 minute conversation with a young Bald Eagle.

This juvenile Bald Eagle posed a full 15 minutes, before it got tired of our conversation, and flew off.

I was only 20 feet away for this shot, the last picture before, the Eagle flew off to a dead tree. Even a juvenile is an unbelievably magnificent creature to admire up close.

The strong wind is making the feathers, on the back, of the Eagles head, stand on end. When the rain started, the near freezing drops were nearly blowing horizontally, and my fingers were going numb.


This message was edited Oct 19, 2008 10:37 AM

The young Eagle was so well cameraflaged, I was with in 100 feet before I noticed it.

While taking the above picture, I was so focused on the Eagle, I walked to within a few feet, of a juvenile Herring Gull.

Wow!. Great pictures, Grasmussen.

Fantastic, Gary. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.

What a great time Gary! Wonderful pics!

Gorgeous photos, and I see what you mean about how well his plumage blended with that background! I love his gold feet with that bright green moss... :-)

Great Gary! 15 minutes.........I gotta ask..........how many images did you take?

Beautiful shots, Gary.

Nice shots, Gary. I've been seeing Bald Eagles but haven't gotten any real close-up shots yet this Fall . I think I have asked you before but do you ever go down to Homer, Alaska (or plan to) ? Looking forward to seeing more ......

I'm thinking first-winter Glaucous-winged Gull

Resin

I took 91 pictures total, including about ten of gulls.

Resin, I just assumed the gull was a Herring Gull, because they account for about 99% of the large gulls around hear. Glaucous-winged Gulls are the other 1%. However, the smaller Mew Gulls are the most common, in this area.

When the Eagle decided it had put up with enough of me, it flew up to this nearby dead tree. There were at least six juvenile and two adult Bald Eagles around this small road side lake, feeding on late run salmon. There is a paved road side pull off next to the lake. The Eagles are accustomed to seeing people all day long.

The light was so poor, all of the in flight pictures were only blurs. This is the closest I got to an in flight shot.

While I was taking pictures of the Eagle, this gull was in the outlet creek, to my right, trying to swallow a large piece of salmon skin, left behind by an Eagle. It could only get a small part in its mouth, would spit the skin out, and try again. The red color is the outside of the skin, not blood. The salmon turn red during spawning.

Linthicum, we went down to Homer in May, the first time in about 5 years. It's nearly an all day drive in each direction. We went to see some Emperor Geese, which were off course, and spent a few days resting in Homer. The Emperors were an addition to my life-list.

The wind seemed to be bothering the Eagle more than I was. By moving slowly and not threateningly I'm often able to approach close to my subjects.

OMG....Gary, totally awesome shots!!! Look at the size of those feet and talons...wow!!

I cropped this picture for a better view of the talons. When I was up close to the Eagle, I was thinking, "I sure wouldn't want them sunk into my flesh!"

This message was edited Oct 19, 2008 6:14 PM

Ouch! Those would hurt!

Nice fishing hooks there! lol

Yikes!

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing!!

And I always love looking at the feet and talons. So impressive.

Awesome series Gary...they take my breath away! So glad you posted them!

It would be cool to see a photo of an eagle next to another type of bird or animal for a size comparison. I have never seen one, so it's hard to imagine the 6-8 FOOT wingspan. That's bigger than me!

Grasmussen, absolutely great pics of the Bald eagle. You do have the patience of Job. I'm 51 and have never seen on in it's natural habitat. A park ranger told me a few years that there was a pair near here but wouldn't give the location, which was probably a good decision on his part, even though I would have told nobody.
Keep up your wonderful work Lee

Thumbs up! Gary....must have been great...thanks for sharing...

I sat down with my coffee this morning and started browsing pictures.

Your series here was so incredible that my coffee went cold before I could break away and get a sip.

Thanks for sharing your memorable 15 minutes.