My first Eagle...

[Hardrock]

It was my first time to see a Bald Eagle that wasn't captive. Found him at Fountainebleau state park in Mandeville La.

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[Tony S]

Ahh, the thrill of the first eagle. The first one is always a keeper.

[EricD]

If you are like me you will get hooked on the Eagle pics! They are such majestic and powerful Raptors. Nice score

[inspectedpanic]

Nice Pic, I dont think we have too many eagles etc over here in the UK, however I was walking my dog yesterday and one landed a distance in front of me, first time in 42 years I have seen one in the wild, not being a bird watcher etc I have no idea what it was, too small to be a buzzard, too big to be a kestrel, apart from that I dont know any more. anyway I digress, nice picture.

[bigboi3]

Nice shot but I thought this thread was about golf.

[Joey_Ricard]

Ahh, the thrill of the first eagle. The first one is always a keeper.

Agreed, and I remember when I was about 12 when I got one and good grief, it may as well been the only eagle on the planet. I wasted the rest of the roll of film, just to get that one printed.

[Zydeco]

Wow, awesome! Fountainebleau State Park, huh? I live not far from Mandeville! I'll definitely have to check this place out.

[TrevMcG]

Just look at those eyes!

[Aloicious]

beautiful! is that a crop at all? great find

[jriepe]

My parents still live in the same house where I was born and raised and in all the years I lived there and have visited there I had never, to my knowledge, seen an eagle. Last February 2011 I was in southern Illinois for my dad's 95th birthday and in a tree beside the road my parents live on sat an eagle. My brother and I saw it as we were driving up the road and naturally I didn't have my camera. We were less than a mile from my parent's house so immediately upon arriving there I hopped into my car with my camera and backtracked. Fortunately the eagle was still sitting in the exact same spot and I got a good shot of it. I saw another one in that area this past September while visiting there but didn't manage to get a shot of that one. I believe the eagle population is increasing and they are spreading into areas where there were no eagles in years past.

Jerry

[OregonT3i]

That's awesome. I just had the same experience about a week ago. Finally found some bald eagles!! It was exciting.

[chuasam]

Too many of those bloody eagles where I live. There's one watching my dog hungrily as he was running all over the off leash park. Last year, a bald eagle attacked a dog.

[Infinite_Day]

That's odd - they typically are fish eaters. All raptors will be opportunistic hunters when it suits them though. There were some eagles nesting a few miles up the road from me. I haven't had a chance to go see if they're back this year yet. They're hard to shoot here because they're very skittish. Maybe I'll go get bundled up and head that way this morning... Nice shot!

[Hardrock]

Thanks Everyone! It's about a 30% crop of the original. And yes I can't wait to see one of these guys in the wild again! I hope to go back to LA in a month or two, hopefully he is still there.