Nesting Bald Eagles

One of my favorite things to photograph is the American Bald Eagle. There is no doubt why this raptor was chosen to be our Nation’s symbol.

The intense eyes of an eagle commands respect. The eyesight of an eagle is very impressive. They have two foveae or centers of focus, that allow the birds to see both forward and to the side at the same time. Bald eagles are capable of seeing fish in the water from several hundred feet above, while soaring, gliding or in flapping flight. Eagles have eyelids that close during sleep. For blinking, they also have an inner eyelid called a nictitating membrane. Every three or four seconds, the nictitating membrane slides across the eye from front to back, wiping dirt and dust from the cornea. Because the membrane is translucent, the eagle can see even while it is over the eye. Eagles, like all birds, have color vision. An eagle's eye is almost as large as a human's, but its sharpness is at least four times that of a person with perfect vision. The eagle can identify a rabbit moving almost a mile away. That means that an eagle flying at an altitude of 1000 feet over open country could spot prey over an area of almost 3 square miles from a fixed position.






The Eagles majestic qualities also have an aura of strength and power. Their powerful talons and sharp beak are to be respected. The hook at the tip of the beak is used for tearing. Behind the hook, the upper mandible, the edge sharp enough to slice tough skin, over laps the lower, creating a scissors effect. A bald eagle's beak is a strong weapon, but is also delicate enough to groom a mate's feathers or feed a small portion of food to a newly hatched chick. Talons are important tools for hunting and defense. Eagles kill their prey by penetrating its flesh with their talons.

Kelly and I have had the great pleasure of being able to view Eagles all year round by just traveling a few miles from our home. We have witnessed a mating pair of Bald Eagles for several years.

Some years have not produced any Eaglets. Last year they produced a single Eaglet. This year has been amazing because it is unusual for a nest to contain three Eaglets. Bald eagles build their nests in large trees near rivers or coasts. A typical nest is around 5 feet in diameter. Eagles often use the same nest year after year, as we have been lucky enough to observe. Over the years, some nests become enormous, as much as 9 feet in diameter, weighing two tons. Here is a picture of the nest near our home in Minnesota.

Eagles are territorial during nesting season. They will keep other eagles out of their own nesting area. Their nesting territory is usually one to two square miles.

An eagle reaches sexual maturity at around four or five years of age. At that time, the eagle's energies become concentrated on the effort of finding a mate and raising offspring. Bald eagles mate for life, but when one dies, the survivor will not hesitate to accept a new mate. During breeding season, both birds protect the nest territory from other eagles and predators. Because an eagle lives up to 30 years in the wild, it has many years in which to produce offspring.

Eagles lay from one to three eggs. Five to ten days after a successful copulation, the female lays a speckled off-white or buff colored egg about the size of a goose's. The second egg is laid a few days later, followed by a possible third. During incubation, one parent is always on the nest, not only to keep the eggs warm but to protect them from squirrels, ravens, and gulls which will break open and eat the eggs. The 35 days of incubation duties are shared by both male and female, but it is the female who spends most of her time on the nest. Trading places on the nest can be a tense time. This behavior can be very interesting to watch, listen to, and capture images of. The brooding parent may have to call for relief, or may be reluctant to leave and have to be pushed off the eggs or young. During incubation, the male bald eagle regularly brings green sprigs of conifer branches to the nest. Why he does this, no one knows, but it could be for deodorizing the nest or possibly providing shade for the eaglets.



The eggs hatch in the order they were laid. Eaglets break through the shell by using their egg tooth, a pointed bump on the top of the beak. It can take from twelve to forty-eight hours to hatch after making the first break in the shell (pipping). Once the eggs begin to hatch, the female's vigilance becomes nearly constant. The male provides the majority of the food needed by his rapidly growing family. Eventually the female will take up her share of the hunting, but in the early days, all of her attention is given to the young eaglets in the nest.



While on the nest with very young eaglets, parents move about with their talons balled into fists to avoid accidentally skewering their offspring. The young birds grow rapidly, they add one pound to their body weight every four or five days. At about two weeks, it is possible for them to hold their head up for feeding. By three weeks they are 1 foot high and their feet and beaks are very nearly adult size. Between four and five weeks, the birds are able to stand, at which time they can began tearing up their own food. At six weeks, the eaglets are very nearly as large as their parents. At eight weeks, the appetites of the young birds are at their greatest. While parents hunt almost continuous to feed them, back at the nest the eaglets are beginning to stretch their wings in response to gusts of wind and may even be lifted off their feet for short periods. At three or four weeks, this eaglet is covered in its secondary coat of gray down. In another two weeks or so, black juvenile feathers will begin to grow in. While downy feathers are excellent insulators, they are useless as air foils, and must be replaced with juvenile feathers before an eaglet can take its first flight, some 10 to 13 weeks after hatching.
First Flights Down is gradually replaced by feathers, while the eaglets grow still stronger. Finally, an important moment arrives. Approximately 40% of young eagles do not survive their first flight. Once the young eagles have fledged (to acquire the feathers necessary for flight) they remain around the nest for four or five weeks, taking short flights while their primary feathers grow and strengthen. Their parents still provide all of their food. The young birds, with the exception of their color, resemble their parents, but are nothing like them in behavior. They have to learn how to hunt, and they only have the remainder of the summer to learn. After that, they're on their own. The first winter is the most dangerous and difficult part of an eagle's life. Higher predators are born with instincts that urge them to fly, to bite or to pounce, but precisely how to do these things is another matter. Through months of trial and error, eagles acquire basic skills such as lighting on perches or stooping on prey through practice. Eagles practice with almost fully developed bodies, and so sharpen their skills quickly.


Nesting cycle - From the time the parents build the nest and the young are on their own, takes about 20 weeks. During the nesting cycle the parents remain within one to two miles of the nest. Kelly and I can tell you that you can spend many, many hours enjoying the company of a family of nesting Eagles! We have hundreds of pictures to prove it. We hope you have enjoyed seeing some of these images and learning some details about this very impressive creature that you didn’t know before. Please feel free to check our website for more images of Eagles and other birds in our Nature Gallery. Click on the Nature Gallery, then scroll down to the Raptor Gallery. http://mikeklarich.com/

God Bless.

Gull Frenzy

On March 18, 2009 I went to check on a nesting pair of Bald Eagles on the back waters of the Mississippi River. One Eagle was sitting on the nest and made no indication of any plan to take flight anytime soon.

Out of boredom I could not help but be distracted by the hundreds, if not thousands, of Seagulls in the area. There sheer numbers in the area alone was amazing. They must have been drawn to the area for the same reason the Eagles are, open water. This means, FOOD! Usually I am not exactly enthralled with Seagulls, but on this day I thought I'd try and capture some images.







A rocky shoreline out of the fierce north wind, and with strong sunlight bathing down heating the dark colored rocks, it all helped to keep me comfortable on a cold spring day. As I sat on the rather warm rocks, I just watched the constant activity on the floating river ice shelf, and all around me in the air; I found it difficult to come up with a plan right away. All the squawking gulls were in a feeding frenzy. They chased one another, fought over fish they had caught, and basically tried to sort out some kind of gull supremacy over one another.

Then it hit me as I watched time after time Gulls slamming into the frigid icy dark water. The Seagulls were diving into the water and apparently coming up with fish. The activity was so fast a furious that it was hard to tell if they were even successful or not with their daredevil antics. So my plan was to capture a Seagull as it dove into the water and flew back out of the murky freezing water. Capturing an image of a successful fishing expedition, Seagull style, was the ultimate goal. So, I setup the tripod by fitting the legs of the tripod in between rocks and one leg on top of a flat rock at differing lengths in an attempt to be somewhat level on the river bank, and then mounted the camera. The use of a cable release made it easier to view the constant aerial action. Otherwise, looking through the viewfinder of the camera for long periods of time, can take the fun out of photography quickly. I pointed my 100-400mm lens out into an area of open water. I had watched many gulls attempt to dive into this small body of open water, sometimes with fish, sometimes without, sometimes I couldn't tell. Now all I had to do is wait for the right exact time with my finger on my cable release trigger. Here is the result.

An uneventful day of Bald Eagle photography yielded a fun day of photography. Hope you enjoyed the story and the images (wish the blog could show bigger images). Some of the images from this day can be found on the website: http://www.mikeklarich.com/gallery/4461324_kgT22#543227049_ub2ke

Cozumel

This winter Kelly and I really were getting tired of the cold weather and decided to take a trip to Mexico. We flew down to Cozumel on March 5, for a week of sun and fun.

We stayed at the Fiesta Americana Dive Resort. The amenities were very nice. My favorite part was being able to snorkel right from the resort (and the huge breakfast buffet). We sat on the beach, soaked up the sun, snorkeled for miles in the ocean. When we got hungry and thirsty all we had to do is order food and drinks right down on the beach from Jaun our beach side waiter. It was wonderful.

A Couple of shots from the beach (above and below)

We also went into town many times and took the ferry across to Playa Del Carmen. Playa is on the main land and it has many huge resorts, shops, bars, and restaurants. Stay away from Sr. Frogs, unless you’re 16 years old or feel like acting like you’re 16 years old. That’s all I want to say about that.

Later in the week we spent a day at Xel-Ha, which is a snorkeling type amusement park. It’s located on the River Maya south of Playa Del Carmen and is an all inclusive park with many restaurants and attractions to keep you busy throughout the day. You can swim with dolphins, and sting rays, walk the wooded trails, kayak, or hang out at the beach. It was a fun day at Xel-Ha, but I have to say the snorkeling was just as good (if not better) right infront of the hotel in Cozumel.

What really made me want to scuba dive is the day Kelly talked me into a submarine ride. We dove down over 120 feet deep and saw incredible sea life aboard the Atlantis Submarine. The highlights were seeing a Sea Turtle, Lobster, and all kinds of amazingly colored fish. Then the pilot took us over “The Great Abyss” or the “Deep Blue” where the ocean floor drops thousands of feet into nothingness. All color just disappears as you look down from the underwater shear rock cliff as we floated over in this battery powered sub. Very cool, thanks to Kelly we’ll never forget that adventure.

The weather was nice for us all week with highs in the 80’s and a few rain drops early one morning. We took tons of pictures. Here are just a few. Checkout our website for many more, you’ll find them in the travel gallery. http://www.mikeklarich.com/Travel

Canon EOS 40D, ISO 100, 1/1000sec, F10,@ 70mm

Frozen Ducks

Canon 40D, 100-400mm L, ISO 500, 1/640 @ f 5.6

On the morning of January 15, 2009, it was 24 degrees below zero. I was suffering a bad case of cabin fever because the lingering cold spell had kept me inside as much as possible over the prior few days. The itch to get out and shoot a few photos was greater than the need to stay nice and warm.

In the back waters of the Mississippi River there are a few areas where the current is so strong that the water will not freeze. However on this day the open water was only ten yards wide by thirty yards long, which is unusual for this spot. It was about as close to being totally frozen over as I have ever seen it.


Canon 40D, 100-400mm L, ISO 200, 1/500 sec @ f 5/6

The cold temperature did not keep the ducks away. The eagles in this same location were no where to be found, though. I knew the open water would attract the ducks, but what surprised me is how the extreme cold did not seem to bother them. Even as they would dive under the water to catch small fish and immediately ice would form on there feathers, the ducks seemed to be in no distress at all.


Canon 40D, 100-400L, ISO 200, 1/500sec @ 5.6

I, on the other hand, was freezing; my fingers were frostbitten very quickly. I stayed long enough to take several hundred pictures. As I sat down to the computer to down load them my fingers began to thaw and the pain then set in. However, I was glad to get out and capture some images that I was pleased with.

Kwik Camo Blind - Christmas Gift

Here is a gift that should increase our abilities to capture wildlife images. This item is called a “kwik Camo Blind. It comes in a few different camouflage patterns for various conditions and terrains to set-up in.


Photos from: http://www.michigannature.com/
http://www.michigannature.com/KwikCamoPics.html

The blind has a mesh screen for seeing your surroundings and adjustable Velcro openings for camera lenses. This is gift that will ensure a Happy New Year of great photo opprotunities.

THANKS Kelly!


I just purchased this stool from GCI Outdoors for hours of comfort to go with the blind.
Now if the weather would just cooperate.

Blizzard Weekend in North Dakota

It was December 14, Kelly and I were moving Drew into his new digs at the Minot Air Force Base. On the way we planned to stop and visit our son Mike and his wife Crystal where they live in Grand Forks ND. Mike and Crystal have a home on the Air Force Base in Grand Forks. Our plan was to spend a night or two in Grand Forks with them, and then move Drew into his base in Minot, ND. Luckily, we made it to Mike and Crystal’s before the storm hit!

I don’t recall ever being in weather like that before. The temp was thirty-five below with winds gusting up to sixty plus mile per hour (you figure out the wind chill).

We brought the cameras with, but didn’t take many pictures. Anyway, here are some pictures from being confined to the house all weekend.

"Scout"

Drew, playing video games.

Kelly, reading.

Crystal playing with Scout.

"Molly"

Mike, taking a break from video games.

We finally headed out Monday for the trip across North Dakota to move Drew to his base in Minot. It was still freezing cold out but the snow had stopped. I was too miserable to take the camera out to take any pictures. I should have though, as the sun was coming up the light was beautiful on all that fresh snow and there were some cool looking sun dogs up in the sky just begging for us to take a picture. I was just too cold when Kelly said we should take some pictures.

Drew on the frigid Minot, ND AFB

On the way back to Minnesota we had to stop and take a few snapshots. As we were traveling south of Bismarck and crossing Audubon Lake there were THOUSANDS of pheasants along the roadside. I was swerving at times to miss them. They were digging in the snow, perched in trees, and running everywhere you looked. I’m not a bird hunter, but now I know why hunters flock to the Dakotas’ to Pheasant hunt!

12/16/2008 Roadside in North Dakota

November 23, 2008

Kelly and I out on November 23, 2008. Here are a few pictures from that hike in Afton State Park.



Kelly took this shot of a interesting composition of a few mushrooms growing out of a stump. She enjoys capturing images of various type of fungi, but she would never eat a mushroom.










I captured this image of Kelly as she was getting ready to take another picture. I really like this image of her. I guess that's why I felt the need to play with it in Photoshop. This image below is now our background on our desktop computer. I removed the background, added clouds, and created a gradient (white on the left side so we could see our desktop items easier). What do you think?










I guess on a very cloudy overcast day, we both decided to capture some macro images of interesting compositions we found on the ground. Although, any day spent in the woods with a camera is a good day, no matter what the weather!