I’ve heard the stories. I’ve talked to other photographers. I’ve seen the pictures. Until you actually see them for yourself, none of that other stuff matters. I found the eagles!

The winter storm Nemo did not have the reach everyone originally thought. We received about 6 inches of snow starting last night and definitely ending before I awoke at 4am. I went out early this morning to clear the driveway of the white stuff and contemplated exploring with the camera but I needed it to warm up a little before I ventured outside again. The day did not disappoint!

The sun, which had been on full all day, managed to get the temps up to the mid-twenties so I packed the camera into the car and went exploring. I didn’t have a destination in mind but the need for gas in the car prompted the start of my adventure to be a gas station. The closest being over in Rome I decided to go back to Delta Lake dam and poke around in the fresh snow cover.

My intent was to find some new views of the dam or walk the trails along the Black River to see what caught my eye. After grabbing some interesting images of the turbulent exit flow I spotted a couple down the road staring down river. I wanted to check out the opposite side of the dam area so I wandered in their direction. They were watching a young eagle perched high in a tree along the river. Of course I had the wide angle zoom lens on so I continued my original plan for exploring.

On the way back to the car I noticed the eagle was still sitting in the tree. I swapped lenses for my modest telephoto and headed down the trail along the opposite side of the river hoping to get close enough for a few captures. I now wish I had gotten the 70-300mm lens rather than my 55-200mm. I just didn’t have enough reach. Every time I would almost be close enough the eagle would fly further down stream. I pursued!

Luckily I’m a little stubborn. As I chased the eagle from tree to tree I came upon more perched eagles. I still could not get close enough for a good close-up image but now I know where they like to hang out. I will be making numerous trips back to this area and if I’m lucky I’ll be in the right place at the right time to get some more images of these fantastic birds!

Eagle One
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f4-5.6, 1/1250s, 200mm, f/8, ISO 200

Eagle Two
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f4-5.6, 1/640s, 200mm, f/8, ISO 200

Eagle Three
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f4-5.6, 1/800s, 200mm, f/8, ISO 200