Winter eagles

The other day I had the chance to spend a few hours photographing bald eagles on and near a white-tailed deer carcass in northern Wisconsin.






I had an opportunity to capture some flight pictures as the birds came in.






And several birds on the ground feeding on the carcass.



Their was a definite hierarchy among the eagles, which meant that younger birds had to move from the choicest tidbits when more mature birds came to feed. 

When they didn't move fast enough they were helped out of the way.

Making Do...

Making do with what I've got.

Sandhill cranes on a strip if land surrounded by water at their night time roost.

I only had a 100-400mm lens and an extension tube with me as I walked around an urban wetland near Madison.

Almost as soon as I got there I found a snapping turtle crossing one of the man made dikes.

I used the extension tube and was able to make relatively close up images like these three.

I like the duckweed on its shell.

By pulling the extension tube I got the turtle walking away.

I found this thistle flower along the path and then headed back to the sandhill cranes.

The lens I had wasn't long enough to isolate individual cranes so I had to get creative and shoot the group.





By waiting for the birds to remain nearly motionless I was able to make some nice silhouettes in spite of the slow shutter speeds.

While I was photographing the cranes on their roost, pairs and single cranes would fly in and join the flock. I caught this sandhill with its wings set and ready to land just after sunset.

I'm glad I took the camera on my walk and made do with what I had.









Tundra swans and other signs of spring...

My parents have lived near the Chequamegon Bay on Lake Superior for several years now and every spring and fall my dad calls to tell me when the swans are there. Sometimes up to several hundred tundra swans will stop in and spend a few days or weeks laying over on the bay during their migration. This year I lucked out. Two days before my kids and I were planning to go up north for Easter my dad called to tell me the swans were there.


So along with everything else, I packed my camera and hoped that I might have happy kids, a little extra time, some good light, and swans on the lake while we were there. I did and here's some of what I saw.

The day we arrived it was sunny and in the 60's with no ice on Chequamegon Bay. The next morning the wind had switched and was from the north. The temperature dropped to around 40 degrees and pushed ice back into the bay. Here an adult and juvenile tundra swan run on the ice as they take flight.

Immature tundra swans are a grayish color and not all white like the adults. This immature swan is taking flight.

A group of tundra swans sit in an opening in the ice.

I put on chest waders and ventured into the lake in order to get these images. At times the wind was moving large rafts of ice right against the legs of my tripod. I'd stand to that side and use my legs to break up the sheets of ice before they could knock the camera over.

The whole experience was a bit surreal. I was wearing waders and standing in an ice bath with ice breaking against my legs and moving past me giving the impression that I was in fact moving and not stationary. The whole time swans were talking amongst themselves, making beautiful sounds that I can't well describe for you here.

The next evening was sunny and much warmer and I went down to the lake for about an hour near sunset. The swans weren't nearly as tolerant as the day before in the ice, but I did capture a few images.

After the swans left I found this snow bunting moving in stops and starts among the cattails in the marsh.

A few Canada geese were standing on the sand flats along the edge of the Bay. I hope your Easter was as good as mine. Jerry

More ducks and geese

Mallard drake coming in for a landing.

Beautiful mallard drake in the last light before sunset.

Canada geese set to land on a pond.