Some Raptors from this weekend.

I stayed in my local area this weekend (Fort Myers, FL), but got out and made a few quick runs to see what the local birding was doing. here are a few raptors:

Male Bald Eagle. Sitting on guard duty not far from a nest. No matter how many angles I tried, there was at least one branch interfering with the shot. Finally decided it was better to have one across his tail than anywhere else :? .
http://CatcherofLight.smugmug.com/ph...0_tsWNw-X3.jpg

Female Bald Eagle. Guarding the nest. This image captured with the 40D on the 600mm f/4L. The shadows were definitely in the way, but not much I could do about it. That nest is in a very big tree!:
http://CatcherofLight.smugmug.com/ph...3_6kJwA-X3.jpg

Eagle Family Portrait. I took this one Friday night right after work. I waited until sunset to try and get enough light under the tree canopy for some decent images. I spent a LOT of time trying to get them all to turn their heads in the right direction at the right time, get a catchlight, have sufficient DOF to get them all from the side, ect.. I wound up with a few acceptable ones, but none that were "perfect". I'd say I have about 2 more weeks before they leave the nest completely. There are 2 chicks in the nest, but the other one is apparently camera shy.
http://CatcherofLight.smugmug.com/ph...3_AhKMB-X3.jpg

Burrowing Owl at sunrise:
http://CatcherofLight.smugmug.com/ph...1_t5Ng2-X3.jpg

Swallow Tailed Kite. This is the first one I've seen of the season. He actually surprised me, but I still managed a couple quick shots with the 40D and 100-400 lens. Not up to my usual standards, but a fairly unusual bird, and hard to photograph because they never seem to land!
http://CatcherofLight.smugmug.com/ph...0_drkCg-X3.jpg

Nice works, love the family portrait.

Awesome set of photo's!! Very crisp...
Eagles are so cool to photograph!!! Great captures!!

The first two, are two of the very best nature photos I have seen. Absolutely amazing color and focus, especially at 600mm. Your work really raises the bar around here.

Great work!

Excellent job as usual, C_B.

Love the family portrait. Fills my heart with warmth.

Very cool that the eagles are near fledging already, while eggs are being sat on here. Burrowing owls are so damb cool and the swallow-tailed kite is great to(too bad about the fishing line in it's talons though)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by paulnj

Very cool that the eagles are near fledging already, while eggs are being sat on here. Burrowing owls are so damb cool and the swallow-tailed kite is great to(too bad about the fishing line in it's talons though)

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I think its just some moss on a branch. He was swooping through the trees, as though looking for nesting material (even though they don't nest here). In all likelihood, there was a bug or lizard on the branch, and he just took the whole thing.

Awsome shots.....picture perfect IMO....

moss..gotcha.

Thanks for the FP! I liked that image too. It's one of those opportunities you're not going to get a crack at very often. Glad it was appreciated, and even more glad to see the comeback the Bald Eagles have made. I think this image serves as a nice representation of that comeback by an absolutely magnificent species.

stunning photography!! the eagle shots are superb! well they all are, but I am partial to the eagle shots,, my goal for this year is to get some nicer (than what I already have) of eagles,, I have a spot where I want to sit and watch,, hopefully over the next month I'll get out and try it! really good work!!!

Sue

Beautiful shots, I love the burrowing owl and kite. The odd angle of the kite shot with it looking down really sets it apart.