# Our Nation's Majestic Symbol...



## The T (Jan 13, 2012)

Took this photo yesterday morning just before noon while at a customer location at Amelia Island (Nassau County), Florida.

The tower was about 300 Yards away, the height of the tower is approximately 70 feet.




 
Note the nest in the center of the structure?​


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## Mr. H. (Jan 13, 2012)

Wow. 

Last weekend, we travelled to the Alton/Grafton area on the Mississippi for some eagle watching.
There were several, but tricky to spot. 
I forgot my Nikon with telephoto, so I held my point-and-shoot up to the binoculars and came up with these LOL. 

The view:






Camera and binoculars:






Then cropped the image for this:


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## gallantwarrior (Jan 13, 2012)

The T said:


> Took this photo yesterday morning just before noon while at a customer location at Amelia Island (Nassau County), Florida.
> 
> The tower was about 300 Yards away, the height of the tower is approximately 70 feet.
> 
> ...



Resourceful critter, isn't she?  We see loads of eagles all the time.  If you let a small Fifi or a Fluffy outside during the winter, there's a good chance next time you see them will be as a white sploch on your car!
Best place to watch eagles locally is at the VFW, where they feed them.


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## The T (Jan 13, 2012)

gallantwarrior said:


> The T said:
> 
> 
> > Took this photo yesterday morning just before noon while at a customer location at Amelia Island (Nassau County), Florida.
> ...


 
Very cool. Beautiful creatures. I have witnessed them in flight from afar, but never as close as yesterday and perched. I took a couple of others. One shows that it apparently was looking right at me when I snapped it.

Thanks for those.


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## koshergrl (Jan 13, 2012)

I have driven backroads where a dozen eagles swirled and swooped at my car as I was driving the dirt/gravel road. They'd circle, land in front, then jump up in the air as I approached. It was incredible, the sort of thing that afterwards, you wonder if it REALLY happened.

It was along "eagle creek"...where both bald and golden eagles nest, and both were there that day.


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## The T (Jan 13, 2012)

Mr. H. said:


> Wow.
> 
> Last weekend, we travelled to the Alton/Grafton area on the Mississippi for some eagle watching.
> There were several, but tricky to spot.
> ...


Interesting way to grab one. Good thinking. 




I wouldn't have ever thought of doing what you did.

The camera I used was a Kodak 1012IS.

I had the zoom full tilt.

I don't travel without a camera. I have a still camera that takes video...and a Panasonic HD Vidcam (that takes stills), and has an 80GB Drive.


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## The T (Jan 13, 2012)

koshergrl said:


> I have driven backroads where a dozen eagles swirled and swooped at my car as I was driving the dirt/gravel road. They'd circle, land in front, then jump up in the air as I approached. It was incredible, the sort of thing that afterwards, you wonder if it REALLY happened.
> 
> It was along "eagle creek"...where both bald and golden eagles nest, and both were there that day.


 
They are very beautiful birds aren't they?


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## Mr. H. (Jan 13, 2012)

The T said:


> Interesting way to grab one. Good thinking.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I got very lucky LOL. Tried it several times but only got one in focus.

So was that Kodak in digital zoom mode? That's a really shrap image.


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## The T (Jan 13, 2012)

Mr. H. said:


> The T said:
> 
> 
> > Interesting way to grab one. Good thinking.
> ...


It was all I could do to try to stay steady as I didn't have a tripod with me. I took a few shots...and alot were blurred because of my motion/distance at full digital zoom)...

I was at a customer's location doing some radio work. I was returning to my service van to get a piece of test equipment as I caught the bird out of the corner of my eye sitting on that cellular antenna panel). So I scrambled to get the camera before it flew away.

The following is another shot (that isn't blurred like alot of the rest)...what's so cool about this one is that the bird saw me and what I was doing...looked right at me...


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## Katzndogz (Jan 13, 2012)

gallantwarrior said:


> The T said:
> 
> 
> > Took this photo yesterday morning just before noon while at a customer location at Amelia Island (Nassau County), Florida.
> ...



Did you take these pictures yourself?  I got the wrong pictures.  I meant the close up of the eagles.  The group and the one by himself.


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## gallantwarrior (Jan 13, 2012)

Great pics!  
I was picking blueberries one afternoon and noticed that all the marmots suddenly disappeared.  A golden soared overhead.  Way cool!  How do you tell golden eagles from juvenile bald eagles?  The "pantaloons"! 
I carefully monitor the baldies every spring because my kids are at risk.  Those baldies will take a domestic kid in lieu of a wild one any day.


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## gallantwarrior (Jan 13, 2012)

Katzndogz said:


> gallantwarrior said:
> 
> 
> > The T said:
> ...



No.  I'm not much of a photographer.  Eagles are a bit of a nuisance here.  They really are scavengers, but quite beautiful for all of that.  I've seen an eagle bear a seagull to the ground and start eating before the prey was dead...gruesome.


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## The T (Jan 13, 2012)

gallantwarrior said:


> Great pics!
> I was picking blueberries one afternoon and noticed that all the marmots suddenly disappeared. A golden soared overhead. Way cool! How do you tell golden eagles from juvenile bald eagles? The "pantaloons"!
> I carefully monitor the baldies every spring because my kids are at risk. Those baldies will take a domestic kid in lieu of a wild one any day.


 

One of these days...I am going to get pictures of a Falcon that roams nearby and is a frequent guest to our retention pond at my workcenter and feeds there. Same with a Kingfisher.

I appreciate the comments.


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## koshergrl (Jan 13, 2012)

gallantwarrior said:


> Great pics!
> I was picking blueberries one afternoon and noticed that all the marmots suddenly disappeared. A golden soared overhead. Way cool! How do you tell golden eagles from juvenile bald eagles? The "pantaloons"!
> I carefully monitor the baldies every spring because my kids are at risk. Those baldies will take a domestic kid in lieu of a wild one any day.


 
Goldens are bigger, too.


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## koshergrl (Jan 13, 2012)

I LOVE kingfishers. We used to camp along a creek (not far from where I now live, in fact..we'll be there this summer) and watch the resident kingfisher move up and down the bank. There was also a bunch (I don't know what multiple bats are called) of bats that would come out every night at dusk and whirl around over the creek. You never forget things like that.


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## The T (Jan 13, 2012)

This one was before the bird zoomed in on me and my activity...




​I appreciate the comments guys...For me? It was a cool experience as i own about 22 finches, a Sun Conure, A White Capped Pionus, and 6 Cockateils (Many  were born in my home)...

Love birds...and am happy to share the planet with them.

~*T*
​


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## koshergrl (Jan 13, 2012)

Love it!

Do you ever dream of being a bird? Flying?

Something else you never forget. And not everybody has flying dreams..even fewer have flying dreams where they are actually birds.

My father used to dream he was a duck...he was an avid bird hunter and admired ducks immensely, and they are tremendous fliers.

I've dreamed of being an eagle, or a condor..hard to know when it's you, but soaring for miles and miles a mile up, over mountain ranges...and I've also dreamed of being a goose. A totally different thing..geese fly at night, you know. And of course, they are in company, and formation.

I've also had dreams where I could flap my own arms and fly, or bounce higher and higher until I'm just flying along...not quite as dignified, I'm afraid. Not quite as meaningful. A lot more scary, though.


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## The T (Jan 13, 2012)

koshergrl said:


> I LOVE kingfishers. We used to camp along a creek (not far from where I now live, in fact..we'll be there this summer) and watch the resident kingfisher move up and down the bank. There was also a bunch (I don't know what multiple bats are called) of bats that would come out every night at dusk and whirl around over the creek. You never forget things like that.


 

Bats are very cool to watch. I come out at night sometimes and watch them whizz around the street lighting nailing bugs...

I belive the term is _colony..._


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## koshergrl (Jan 13, 2012)

That's it! 

Yes, we used to get buzzed by them under the streetlights as kids on a regular basis. Those are the same kind; the really little ones that eat the bugs. I find them pretty fascinating too...but not like birds. I've never dreamed of being a bat, and hope I don't. I don't want to end up like Jim Carrey's Riddler.


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## The T (Jan 13, 2012)

The Kingfisher that comes around our workcenter is cool to watch...especially when it is interrupted in it's endeavour...makes alot of noise...but gets used to the idea of you being there and comes back...

i gotta get a picture of it... (Video maybe)


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## gallantwarrior (Jan 14, 2012)

No kingfishers here, but I have had loons come check me out when I've been flyfishing in my tube.  They'll dive underneath me and even try to take a fish off my line.  Nothing like loons singing on a mirror smooth lake at dusk.


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## editec (Jan 14, 2012)

Bald Eagles are quite common here in Maine.

Beautiful creatures.

If you like these birds thank your government for banning DDT.


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## JakeStarkey (Jan 14, 2012)

The T said:


> Took this photo yesterday morning just before noon while at a customer location at Amelia Island (Nassau County), Florida.
> 
> The tower was about 300 Yards away, the height of the tower is approximately 70 feet.
> 
> ...



That's super!  We have at least one (maybe two) that roost down the road and back in the woods.  They are fun to watch.


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## daveman (Jan 14, 2012)

On Christmas Day, we were at my in-laws and my daughter was shooting her new rifle.  A bald eagle flew overhead, his white feathers absolutely gleaming in the sunshine.  Majestic.  

Great pics and stories, everyone!


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## gallantwarrior (Jan 14, 2012)

When I worked down at the shipping terminal in Whittier, I watched the same pair of eagles fledge a new eaglet each year for three years in a row.  They refurbished the same nest in the same tree each year.  It was pretty neat watching them sit, hatch, feed and fledge the young ones.


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## Katzndogz (Jan 14, 2012)

When I lived in Nevada, we had hawks.   Just gorgeous creatures.  Early on morning I was out walking the dog and a snake was just wiggling himself along.  I don't know if he was dangerous or not.  He seemed pretty intent on whatever snake business was on his mind.  A hawk just dropped out of the sky, looked right at me, screamed, grabbed up the snake and took off.  I'm lucky it was the snake and not my dog.   I used to watch them wheel in the sky for hours, then drop straight down like a stone, not even the sound of wind in feathers, grab up a rabbit, mouse or whatever.


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## gallantwarrior (Jan 14, 2012)

Some of those hawks could take a small dog.  I know it is not uncommon for eagles to take small dogs and cats up here.  As a matter of fact, there's an urban legend about just that!  There are always a few eagles around and I worry when the animals start birthing (hatching) their young.  I guess the eagles are not as big a threat as the ravens, though.


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## rdking647 (Jan 20, 2012)

these are from a nest about an hour from my house




you can see an eaglet in the nest




coming in for a landing


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## koshergrl (Jan 20, 2012)

gallantwarrior said:


> Some of those hawks could take a small dog. I know it is not uncommon for eagles to take small dogs and cats up here. As a matter of fact, there's an urban legend about just that! There are always a few eagles around and I worry when the animals start birthing (hatching) their young. I guess the eagles are not as big a threat as the ravens, though.


 
Eagles can and do kill grown deer by striking them on the back of the skull.

Check this out:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VklTs-Tid_I]golden-eagle-drags-goats-off-cliff - YouTube[/ame]


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## sitarro (Feb 2, 2012)

I worked as a member of a wild bird rehab group in Louisiana years ago, handled a number of hawks and owls. I found owls to be the most viscous, they never warmed up. Red Tail hawks can be semi nice, I had a friend who was a Falconer and she served a large female Red Tail(you never possess them). She could kiss this beautiful lady but they had a very special bond. I had a Great Horned Owl on a welding glove (that's him in my avatar) and I could feel the points of his talons through the thick gloves......
When I moved to Denver a year later I sought out another group, I found a woman that had an amazing place in Broomfield. She was very special, magic hands that could handle a hurt Great Horned Owl without gloves...... I watched her take this owl out of a pet carrier that someone had brought to her. It had become impaled under the wings near the "arm pits". She spoke to it with a strong eastern European accent and scratched his head and he seemed to magically become hypnotized....... she then reached in to the cage to take him out and he showed no resistance. She laid him on a table upside down and he let his wings swing open, there was blood in each pit and she worried that tendons could be ripped. She got him to a vet that worked with her and he was eventually released........ she had a amazing 49% release rate.

Anyway, she asked me if I wanted to help her feed her eagles, she wanted to show me a immature Bald Eagle named Einstein, she was going to release him soon. She had a deer carcus on the floor, road kill  brought to her by Wildlife and Fisheries people. She ripped the hind quarter off and through it over her shoulder and had me bring the bucket of fish. We came to this 40 foot tall, wood slat , 100 foot long cage and went in. Perched up near the roof across the cage were 8 eagles, 6 Bald and 2 Golden. We brought the food in the center and Einstein, with his 7 foot wingspan, made a low pass over us........ pretty intimidating. Pretty awesome....... but seeing and Eagle in the wild is very inspiring. 

I am trying to get up to the Chilkat River for the salmon runs, 3,000 bald eagles show up every year...... a wildlife photographer's dream! Check out this guy's sight............

Bald Eagles of Alaska - Bald Eagle Puffins Newfoundland Chilkat Photography Haines Alaska Photo Tour Workshop | SmugMug


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## sitarro (Feb 2, 2012)

Check out this series on you tube. There is a camera on the nest 24 hours a day that you can watch.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P27n1WrNC18&feature=g-all-f&context=G29ad8e8FAAAAAAAAQAA]Trout Supper 2/1/12 - YouTube[/ame]


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