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Tuesday morning (1-10-17) I caught the Hutt Park pair perched in one of the trees in the grove across the railroad tracks from the Shell Creek spit. The east side of the grove is visible from Melody Lane.
They flew to another branch to escape harassment by the evil minions of the Dark Lord.
The crows followed and both eagles flew away from this branch as well.
Thursday morning (1-12-17) I saw an adult eagle land on one of the trees between Hanna Park Road and Cary Rd. These are private, dead-end lanes off Caspers St., located off the north end of Sunset Ave. This may be not be one of our local residents as its head still has a few dark feathers.
Exposure settings are always an issue when photographing eagles in low, bright winter sunlight as it is easy to overexpose the white head and tail feathers or underexpose the dark body feathers. The eagle showed no signs of leaving, so I experimented with various exposure compensations settings. All of these shots were taken handheld with my Canon 7DII + (first series) 100-400L telephoto zoom (my newer series II lens is at the shop, another victim of operator error) using the following settings: M mode, 1,000, f/5.6, auto ISO. My default aperture setting is f/8, but I wanted to keep the ISO settings as low as possible for the 7DII. I wish I had stuck with f/8 as some of the branches are slightly out of focus. The exposure compensation levels are in bold face above each photo.
Neg 2/3
Neg. 2/3
Neg 1
Neg 1+1/3
Neg 1+1/3
On a sunny winter day like to use an exposure compensation setting which produces the darkest blue sky possible to contrast with the eagle's white head without over-dimming the rest of the photo.
Later that afternoon my son and I went to the marsh, where one of the Pt. Edwards eagles landed at what is becoming its favorite winter watering hole. I was still shooting handheld with the 7DII + (first series) 100-400L telephoto zoom. I did not bother dragging out my tripod and 500L telephoto + 1.4x TC to mount on the 5DIII as my viewing angle was poor, I was shooting directly into the low sun, and I knew the eagle would fly off before I could get everything set up.
All the shots I have posted were taken with my 5DIII + 500L telephoto lens + 1.4x TC. I did not bother setting up the tripod, but held the camera and lens on the guard rails of the boardwalk.
The eagle eventually took off with the unknown object and flew south around Pt. Edwards.
I took some flight shots (not posted here) completely hand held. They came out good with the help of image stabilization, but I would not want to make a habit of it.
After lunch I found an eagle by the Deer Creek nest. Two workmen for the city of Woodway told me they had seen two eagles in the nest earlier this month.
The Pt. Edwards nest was empty, but one of the eagles was perched on the tree at the top of Pine St.
Thursday afternoon (1-26-17) the Hutt Park eagles were perched in a tree north of the Shell Creek spit.
They both took off and flew farther north.
I checked their nest, but it appears abandoned.
One was perched on a tree near Overlook Park on Olympic View Dr. , near both the nest and Hutt Park. After a few minutes the eagle took off and perched in another tree a little farther north.
A cold wind was blowing Tuesday (1/31/17), but the crows, gulls, and eagles loved it as they soared over Puget Sound. I scouted the three Edmonds-Woodway eagle nests and found one of the eagles perched in the sentry tree near the Pt. Edwards nest.
The eagle took off as I was setting up my 500L telephoto lens and tripod, so I had to settle for some grab shots with the 100-400L telephoto zoom.
It was joined by its mate which took off from the vicinity of the nest tree.
An eagle was flying south over the Sound just off Sunset Ave. as I pulled up in my pickup. It obliged me by perching on a tree near the corner of Edmonds St. and Sunset Ave. across the street from a former perch, which was felled to make room for a trophy home. I don't know if the eagle is one of the Pt. Edwards or the Hutt Park pair, as this section of Sunset Ave. is in the Neutral Zone between the two pairs' territories. The eagle's gull tourage and several evil minions of the Dark Lord gave the eagle a typical welcome.
The eagle looked to me like a female based on the size of its beak and the flat slope of its forehead.
Friday afternoon (3/10/17) I found an eagle sitting in what I am calling the Deer Creek nest in Woodway. It flew off a minute later, so I still don't know if there are eggs in the nest.
I went down to the marsh and saw an eagle flying north over the marina towards the ferry dock. Same eagle?
One of the Pt. Edwards pair (male?) was perched on its tree at the top of Pine St. So far construction of the new apartments below the tree has not frightened off the pair.
Tuesday morning (3/14/17) was a repeat of Friday with an eagle sitting in the Deer Creek nest. Like Friday, it flew off the moment I put down the camera.
The Pt. Edwards nest was empty, but an eagle was perched on one of the regular perches on Pine St.
So far, the construction of apartments on Pine St. has not bothered the eagles.
And once again like Friday, one (same?) eagle flew north over the marina towards the ferry dock.
I spent a rainy Wednesday afternoon (3/15/17) scouting the local eagle nests. Both the Deer Creek and Pt. Edwards nests were empty.
One member of the Pt. Edwards pair spent the afternoon perched on Pine St....
while the other was perched near the ferry dock.
A juvie flew north over the marsh without eliciting a response from the adult perched on Pine St. It looks like the same bird (first year juvie?) that has been spending the winter in this area.
One of the Pt. Edwards eagles drinking out of "Lake Edmonds" at the marsh prompted to get out of my pickup Saturday (3/18/17) and brave the rain for some shots.
I think this photo, taken at 100mm with the 7DII + 100-400L II telephoto zoom, is symbolic of the urban environment surrounding the marsh. The tree above the construction site is one of the eagles' regular perches.
Taken at 400mm. With the 1.7 crop factor of the 7DII, it is the equivalent of 680mm. It nearly matches the 700mm reach I get with the 5DIII + 500L telephoto + 1.4x TC.
The flushing of a flock of Brant in the Sound north of Sunset Ave. on the first day of spring (3/20/17) alerted me to the presence of an eagle that eventually landed in a tree on Hanna Park Rd.
The eagle took off in the direction of one of the perches of the Hutt pair at the end of Melody Lane. I found the eagle there, but it took off again.
I found it at another of their regular perches near Overlook Park on Olympic View Dr.
I drove back to Sunset Ave. where I saw the juvie stirring up the birds near the Shell Creek spit.
The juvie flew south over the Sound, scaring the Brant along the way, then dipped down into the flock. I have seen this behavior of juvies before, where they appear to chase a bird just for the fun of it.
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