Twisting and turning in mid-air. Spinning and cartwheeling, wing over wing all while its head remains level and focused on the target. Total acrobatics like these are all set against a beautiful blue sky. This is what was going on during my recent photo tour to Alaska to capture images of Bald Eagles.
The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is one of our largest birds of prey in North America. It is found across Alaska, Canada and all of the contiguous United States and into northern Mexico. Its main source of food is fish so Bald Eagles are never far from water, both fresh and saltwater.
They do not have bald heads as their names implies. The name “Bald” comes from the Middle English ballad, which means shinning white. By the way, the word “eagle” comes from French aigle, which comes from the Latin aquila, meaning an eagle.
The Bald Eagle builds the largest nest of all North American birds. In fact, they construct the largest nests in trees ever recorded. There are many record size nests, each around 13-15 feet deep and upwards of 8 to 10 feet wide and weighing several tons.
I came to Alaska with my photo group for a couple reasons. Alaska has the largest population of Bald Eagles with an estimated 30 to 50 thousand birds. That is more than all the lower 48 states have combined. In order to capture the images that everyone dreams of, I charter a boat and we head out into the Kachemak Bay in the Gulf of Alaska. This is perfect Bald Eagle habitat. Lots of tree covered islands and open water filled with fish.
The birds are fishing, and we take advantage of this activity to capture images of the birds in flight or pulling fish from the ocean. The trick is to position ourselves with the wind and sun to our backs. When the birds are flying into the wind they twist and turn in mid-air to spin around or cartwheel and come back to the ocean’s surface to snatch a fish.
Using fast shutter speeds and relatively long lenses, approximately 500 mm, we hope to capture the eagle as it turns in mid-air with its feet extended out, wings spread wide and its head level with the horizon line. Since our cameras take 30 to 40 pictures per second, we need to follow the eagle as it is flying and fishing to capture just the right moment when everything comes together. Each pass of the eagle we would take hundreds of images hoping that one will be the perfect shot.
In this part of Alaska, fish make up most of their diet. They use their incredible eyesight to spot fish, then using their amazing flying skills they approach the fish traveling at a high rate of speed. At the last second, they swing their incredibly large and strong feet forward and snatch the fish out of the water. Their toes are long and tipped with two-inch-long talons. Each talon is sharp and easily penetrates the prey to help hold onto it.
At the end of the four-day trip we had taken tens of thousands of images of these remarkable raptors. Each image represents a unique moment in time and an incredible bird behavior. If you are a photographer who would be interested in and experience like this check out www.naturesmart.com. Until next time…
Stan Tekiela is an author / naturalist and wildlife photographer who travels the U.S. to study and capture images of wildlife. He can be followed on www.facebook.com and www.instagram.com. He can be contacted via his web page at www.naturesmart.com.
