Timing and Luck – A Year of Wildlife – Day 5 – Bald Eagle

Sometimes timing, and luck, are everything.

I went to the river to seek out my favorite heron and as I’m walking toward the river a bald eagle swooped down and landed in a tree across the river. If I had been there 15 seconds earlier, I would have been walking among trees and wouldn’t have seen it. Fifteen seconds later and it would already have been in the tree and I wouldn’t have seen it because it blended in with the frost on the trees.

It was quite a distance across the river and even with my 500mm lens, it was difficult to get a good shot. But as luck would have it, the eagle flew off toward the side of the river I was on. It flew over the trees and I thought I had lost it for good. But I walked a little further down the river searching the trees for the eagle and there it was . . . on the very top of a tree. I watched it and photographed it for about 30 minutes. My 500mm lens is heavy and I was shooting hand-held so I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get any decent shots, but I’m happy with what I got. I’m sure it would have been better if I’d been carrying my tripod but this will have to do.

It was a good day.

Maralee