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Archive 2016 · Coot for breakfast - Berry College Female Bald Eagle

  
 
spork3127
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Coot for breakfast - Berry College Female Bald Eagle


Been a few weeks since I've shared anything, but I was able to capture the Berry College female Bald Eagle snatching an already dead Coot off of the water at a nearby lake on MLK Day. I know that in some areas, shots like these are typical, but not around here. We have the 1 pair that is "known" about but are slowly starting to see more juvies and sub adults in the area each year.

We've seen and captured both the male a female hunting at this lake before, but never in good light and/or as close as she was this time. They usually end up grabbing a Coot on the other side of the lake. There had been a juvenile in the area that stole her coot the previous day and she didn't leave the nest the day before that (sitting on 2 eggs). I think that we benefited from quite a hungry eagle that opted for the easy grab with 4 people within 75-100 feet from her prey. I was absolutely stoked to catch it!

All shots taken with a Canon 7DM2 and Canon 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS USM II. Settings were 400mm, 1/1600, ISO 800, f/8.





Grabbing the easy pickin's







Walking on water







Coot in hand....errr......talon







I normally wouldn't post this one because of the houses in the background, but that's also why I'm posting it. It seems that these raptors could care less about people at times.







Coot check. Yup......Nailed it! Probably my favorite from the series.




Jan 21, 2016 at 11:43 AM
eyelaser
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Coot for breakfast - Berry College Female Bald Eagle


Wonderful series and love the third and last best
Eric



Jan 21, 2016 at 12:19 PM
birdied
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Coot for breakfast - Berry College Female Bald Eagle


Fantastic set ! Love 3 and the last.

Birdie



Jan 21, 2016 at 12:20 PM
surfnron
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Coot for breakfast - Berry College Female Bald Eagle


A great job on these Jason. It's 3 and 5 for me too ~ Ron


Jan 21, 2016 at 03:51 PM
Thao_Nguyen
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Coot for breakfast - Berry College Female Bald Eagle


#3 and # 5 are fabulous - Great set.


Jan 21, 2016 at 04:35 PM
Tapeman
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Coot for breakfast - Berry College Female Bald Eagle


Nice set.
How do you tell a male from a female?



Jan 21, 2016 at 04:40 PM
13867
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Coot for breakfast - Berry College Female Bald Eagle


birdied wrote:
Fantastic set ! Love 3 and the last.

Birdie


What she said ^

CB



Jan 21, 2016 at 05:05 PM
spork3127
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Coot for breakfast - Berry College Female Bald Eagle


Thanks everyone! It was a lot of fun to capture these.

Tapeman wrote:
Nice set.
How do you tell a male from a female?


With this pair, the female is considerably larger, her head feathers are typically "rougher" looking when not in flight where as his are much "smoother" looking. She also sustained an injury to her left leg between the 2013 and 2014 nesting seasons. When she flies, the left leg hangs down and dangles off to the left instead of being tucked under her. It's unfortunate, but it makes for a quick ID in flight shots.

For eagles in general, I've heard that shape and size of the beak tells a lot about the sex. I'm not an expert, but perhaps one of the more knowledgeable members can enlighten us.



Jan 21, 2016 at 06:48 PM
Tapeman
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Coot for breakfast - Berry College Female Bald Eagle


^^^^
Thanks, the pair that are near my home are similar in size and appearance, I'll have to look closer to figure it out.



Jan 21, 2016 at 08:03 PM
kwilliam8
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Coot for breakfast - Berry College Female Bald Eagle


Wow! Three and five for me, but especially image three - its wonderful!
Keith W.



Jan 22, 2016 at 01:40 AM
spork3127
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Coot for breakfast - Berry College Female Bald Eagle


Going back through the series, I've found about 10 more that I like enough to process. Never a dull moment!

kwilliam8 wrote:
Wow! Three and five for me, but especially image three - its wonderful!
Keith W.


Thanks!



Jan 22, 2016 at 06:35 PM
spork3127
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Coot for breakfast - Berry College Female Bald Eagle


I went back through the series of shots and found 3 more that I liked enough to process. I tried to get some different wing positions so that I'm not posting multiples that look the same. Thanks for looking!

















Jan 25, 2016 at 08:46 AM





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