
Bald eagles, a trip to Haines, AK.
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My main goal in this trip was to photograph interaction between bald eagles. Despite the abundance of salmon and relative reluctance of birds for confrontation, we did observe some spectacular scenes with multiple birds engaged in aerial chase and battles. Action usually happened later in the afternoon. Given that the effective light was gone by 3:30PM we had only a 30min window to attempt photographing the interaction. One particular interesting behavior is when an eagle buzzes another bird on the ground, either to try to bully them and claim their fish or just to play. In a split second the incoming bird extends his talons while the standing bird jumps up in the air, extending his talons in an inverted position and tries to fend off the attacker. This symmetrical position is quite impressive. Of course it is a challenge to capture this behavior as many things have to be in the right place at the same time. Most of the time the vantage point allows for eye contact from one bird only with the other facing away from the camera or in a non-ideal position. With a wingspan of more than 6ft, it is often very difficult to get both birds in sharp focus at the same time unless action happens in plane parallel to the back of the camera. The other challenge is the sheer speed of action. In fact, I observed this behavior in my finder a few times but it happened so fast that the camera’s 10fps shooting speed was not fast enough to capture the right moment. I ended up with the frames before and after the peak-of-action, which were dramatically different to what I had hoped for. After many unsuccessful trials for the reasons mentioned, I had a moment of joy and relief when I saw this frame on the cemera’s LCD. I am happy to present it to you.

Sometimes the eagles engaged in battles even without a salmon at stake, although this was less frequent


During the last day of the shoot we witnessed a dramatic aerial chase between two eagles. The bird who had the fish flew with it as fast as he could while the chasing bird was able to reach him from behind and grab a chunk of his salmon in flight. I am including three frames from the action sequence, the 2nd frame was my personal favorite of the trip. I hope you enjoy these images.



I hope you have enjoyed viewing the photos, if you would like to see more please visit the bald eagle gallery on my website. Please check back for more news, stories, tips and equipment reviews.
I am going to photograph the eagles at Haines in November, 2013, and these pages were very helpful in showing me what it is like and how to shoot the eagles. Your tips will come in very handy.
Thank you – Barry
Excellent write-up and fantastic images Arash!
What a great experience you had at Haines with the eagles Arash – I’m most envious!!
Thanks for sharing your techniques and images.
Very nice article, and excellent images as well, Arash.
Hi
great shots of eagles. I see you had a great trip.
Was wondering when you went and is this the best time of year to go??
thanks
James
Hi James, Thanks for your comments. I think the best time is from Oct. to Nov.
[…] Date: December 11, 2012 Author: Ari Category: Uncategorized Tags: Canon 1DX filed review, Canon 1DX review, EOS 1DX review ← Bald eagles, a trip to Haines, AK. […]
I must compliment you. Your images are breathtaking & awesome. You are n encouragement to me. I hope to get my new Canon 600 mm & possibly the 1DX within the next two weeks…………
What a beautiful work!!!! 😀 God’s creation is amazing…..
thanks for posting your beautiful shots and your camera setting. I am working up a trip to go this year from 8 Nov thru 14 Nov. I would love to take just one shot what would compare to yours.
A lot of great info. I’m heading to Haines 8 Nov 2024 and plan to try your camera setting and see if they work for me as a starting point. Thanks Don