Four Hours, One Shot

sm4him · Jan 25, 2015

Went back up to one of the local dams hoping for more eagle activity (the previous weekend was a complete bust). It was COLD and windy, but sunny. Last year, by this time, there was some pretty good eagle activity at this dam ("pretty good" being relative; some of you get LOTS of eagle--around here, seeing more than 2 or 3 in one spot is quite amazing).

Anyway. Got up there only to discover a friend already there. She was watching one adult, sitting in a tree across the river. As I drove up, a juvenile did a fly-by on the far side of the river and then disappeared over the ridge.
She said the eagle had just sat there for at least an hour.
About an hour later, she left. The eagle still just sat in the tree.
They turned the water on, and the eagle just sat there while the gulls and herons hunted.
They turned to water back off, and the eagle just sat there.
Three hours, and the eagle just sat there, doing nothing.

Thought I was gonna get a big fat zero for my efforts yet again. Then, finally, another eagle came up over the ridge, headed straight for the water just below the dam, targeted in, swooped down for a fish, and off it went.

Got one semi-decent shot of it. One halfway decent shot is better than nothing at all!

As always, general comments, C&C, and witty banter are appreciated!

Braineack · Jan 25, 2015

Worth it

using tapatalk.

tirediron · Jan 25, 2015

In my book, that'd make the whole day worthwhile!

MSnowy · Jan 25, 2015

Nice! Having spent hours myself watching eagles sit, I thought "having patience of a saint" has nothing on "having patience of an eagle"

JustJazzie · Jan 25, 2015

I've gotta agree! What a perfect catch!

pgriz · Jan 25, 2015

While you're at it, maybe pile a few rocks on top of each other? You DO seem to have the patience for it. :clap:

Very nice shot. I'm envious of your abilities.

Hunter58 · Jan 25, 2015

Nice capture. I guess the other one just wasn't hungry.

sm4him · Jan 26, 2015

Thanks for the comments, everyone!

tirediron said:
In my book, that'd make the whole day worthwhile!

Thanks, John. It did actually make the day worthwhile, especially compared to getting nothing but a nice starling shot the week before! Hey, at this rate, by NEXT Saturday, I should progress to get something really amazing! :lol:

pgriz said:
While you're at it, maybe pile a few rocks on top of each other? You DO seem to have the patience for it.

Very nice shot. I'm envious of your abilities.

Aw, shucks. Thanks, Paul.

I gotta admit, I've thought about that rock balancing thing before. But that looks HARD!! It's funny the things I have patience for--I can sit All. Day. Long. waiting for the birds to do something worthwhile, but I can't sit in traffic for two minutes without feeling a little road rage!