Series: Juvie bald eagle tries to steal adult's fish

[CaraRose]

Went eagle watching at Starved Rock this weekend. Tons of eagles this year. I got some nice BIF shots and some really nice fishing shots. Nothing is Eric's quality, but I'm happy with them

I rented the 300 2.8 and a 2x TC.

1. Adult coming in for the fish


2. Success!


3 But here comes an upstart juvie...


4


5 Adult sees the juvie coming and starts to bank away


6


7


8


9 Adult manages to maneuver out of the juvies reach.

[Eric D]

Fantastic action shots! I never seem to get them on the water hunting, just the flight back with the prey!

Goes to so you how they will steel food from each other!

[cozmocha]

Silly juvi! Nice stuff! Looks like it was fun.

[OldClicker]

Nice shots, Cara! I really have to get over there some time. - Terry

[frog4gators]

Would love to have an opportunity to watch/photograph that!

[Loupey]

Wonderful series!

Can you tell us, how do you anticipate where the eagle will strike the water? Do you first spot a school of fish at the surface and train your camera on that spot or do you track the raptor all the way down?

Looks like a shad that eagle caught btw.

[CaraRose]

Thanks everyone I saw two or three other chases but they were all across the river and too far away to get good shots of.

Wonderful series!

Can you tell us, how do you anticipate where the eagle will strike the water? Do you first spot a school of fish at the surface and train your camera on that spot or do you track the raptor all the way down?

Looks like a shad that eagle caught btw.

I was shooting BIF shots of them as well, so I started tracking them in the air. They typically were going for fish when they started gliding down towards the water, though sometimes they were just landing on rocks or on the shoreline. Occasionally you'd see one sort of stop in place and fall suddenly, since they must of saw the fish directly below them.

It was all really cool to watch. Added to that I had the gulls diving for fish to entertain me while waiting for the next eagle to come down.