My First Shot of Jr. Flying Out of the Nest 6-18

This afternoon, June 18, I finally got my first shot of Jr. flying out of the tree. He flew a nice large circle around my boat and then landed in the nest quite successfully. I was thrilled to see it for myself. Having been out of town for several days, we had to depend on the other guys for the first shots. Robert Cohee did a great job in his first flight captures. Thanks Robert.

Spencer Moore

The Rotting Nesting Tree

This is why the nesting platform is such a good idea. You can see what the bottom 8-10 feet of the current tree looks like. We are just thrilled it held up to complete this years nesting. There is just no way this tree will last thru next year’s season so I certainly hope things will go well and we can see new nesting platform before the next year’s season. The designer has built over 60 so far that have been used successfully up north so we know that design is acceptable to lots of eagles.

Spencer Moore

Surprise!

The young eagle was enjoying his new found perch this past Saturday morning and mom flew in with a fish for breakfast and caught him by surprise. You can see how he is just realizing she is there. He spun around and jumped down and began to enjoy her morning treat.

Spencer Moore

A Pro Type Landing

Here is the juvenile landing on one of the higher perches in the nesting tree. Now doesn’t he look like a pro here with those talons out and ready to grab that limb? He is ready, I’m telling you for sure. This was before he landed on dad’s back though, so it was one of his better moments.

Spencer Moore

http://www.drspencermoorephotography.com

Catching Some Serious Air.

Now that he is just a few days short of 12 weeks, it’s time to get this flying thing down. This was one of the best flying jobs he did today. This is some serious air and he stayed in complete control the entire time, except for when he almost landed on Dad’s back. That is in the next entry. We were glad to see him showing such great talent.

Spencer Moore

http://www.drspencermoorephotography.com

Watch Out Dad!

This afternoon things got a little wild in the nest as Jr. began flying more and more. He hasn’t left the nesting tree yet but he is certainly catching some air and appears to know just what he is doing. He jumped around and flew in the high winds and never lost control enough to leave the tree. He could at just about any moment and certainly will very soon. What a sight to see. Dad got in the way a couple of times but didn’t seem to mind a bit. He finally moved on up to one of the top limbs to get out of the way and made more room.

Spencer Moore

http://www.drspencermoorephotograhpy.com

Jr.’s Praciticing More Now.

Jr. is spending more time practicing his techniques now and getting a good idea of what is needed. I think he’s ready, he just needs a good gust of wind and he’ll be out there. We just can’t wait to see it. I hope we get to.

Spencer Moore

http://www.drspencermoorephotography.com

Close-up Landing.

Here is a heavily cropped, close-up shot of the eagle landing on the top of the nesting tree. The conditions were just right, with good lighting, calm winds, and calm waters on the lake. I’m shooting with a lens equivalent of about 600mm. The tree is about 50 feet tall and we are just over 100 yards out so everything has to be perfect to get the details, and it was.

http://www.drspencermoorephotography.com

Change Of Menu

You know, seafood is nice but day after day you begin to want something a little different. Now don’t you think a little Coot just one afternoon sounds like a nice change of pace? Well that’s just what they got the other afternoon. Nice idea. Thanks Mom.

Spencer Moore

http://www.drspencermoorephotography.com

About To Get Enough.

The eagles are about to get enough of the dive bombing from the tree swallows. They will sit there for a couple of passes but after that you can tell they began to get agitated and start dodging and then grabbing as they swoop by. I would like to see the eagles just snatch one of them out of the air as they pass by and enjoy a little dessert. Seems like to me they deserve a little more respect than this.

Spencer Moore

http://www.drspencermoorephotography.com

Do They Have a Bad Side?

Eagles are beautiful to see from any angle, especially when they are landing. I want as many different angles as possible to capture that wonderful wingspan in action. After watching them for 4 years now, they seem to not notice anything going on around them, but we just can’t keep from noticing them and all their grace.

Spencer Moore

http://www.drspencermoorephotography.com

Extra Bonus

While weathering the hottest day of the year, and capturing the Transit event, I did get a extra bonus shot of the male coming back to his favorite perch on the nesting tree yesterday evening. Even though his wingspan is a whopping  7-8 feet, they look at least 10-12 from this angle. The light was perfect for his landing, even with Venus blocking all that light from the sun. Ha ha.

Spencer Moore

http://www.drspencermoorephotography.com

Composite Transit of Venus 6-5-2012

While photographing the eagles yesterday afternoon I had the privileged of turning around, adding my sun filter, and capturing the movement of the Transit of Venus, 6-2012. As you know the eagles can sit there for hours doing nothing so I made good use of my time. This displays a composite shot of Venus tracking across the sun about every 30 minutes as it appeared over Lake Waco. The first occurrence I have here was at 5:22 PM and the last was at 7:50 PM. We were blessed to have nice partly cloudy skies rather than the rainy skies that had been predicted. This event happens in pairs and 2004 was the other event that occurred with this one. The last was in 1874, and 1882. The next pair will be in 2117, and 2225. None of us will get to enjoy another so here is my contribution to the enjoyment of this one. This just displays the phenomenal creation that God has set in order. No chaos here, just perfection in God’s order and plan for our world.    PS. Notice the sun spots that were occurring on the sun’s surface yesterday. That is what the small dark spots are in the center of the sun.

Spencer Moore

http://www.drspencermooorephotography.com

You Can Hear The Dinner Bell Ringing.

From this close-up you not only get a good look at the fresh catfish, but you can almost hear the dinner bell ringing in your ears.

Spencer Moore

http://www.drspencermoorephotography.com

More Sushi

It’s actually more fresh catfish but I would prefer mine fried or baked. When your an eagle those options aren’t available so they just love their catfish served as is.

Spencer Moore

http://www.drspencermoorephotography.com

Room Service

In a very few days room service  in the nest will be all over. They may still feed the chick but it will be where ever he decides to land. He is really too old to be feeding like this but they do continue it till the very end of the nesting cycle. Nice service to have, don’t you think? After the male left the nest the juvenile finished the fish on his own like he should have.

Spencer Moore

http://www.drspencermoorephotography.com

Latest Family Portrait

Here is the latest family portrait from June 3, 2012. Notice the young eagle is no longer sitting in the nests. I know, it’s not very far above the nest but still he flew up there and sat there for quite awhile. Once the juvenile moved up to his new perch, dad made his move to the perch right above. It was nice to have all three sitting there once again as a family. It won’t be long before they will scatter over the area and a group shot may be tough.

Spencer Moore

http://www.drspencermoorephotography.com

Flying Higher

This morning we got closer to flying than ever before, of course. He got quite a bit of air under those wings and looks to be ready to go at any time. The breeze was pretty stiff and he showed some good control as he lifted above the nest and successfully floated right back down where he wanted to be. Good job.

Spencer Moore

http://www.drspencermoorephotography.com

Soaring High. Imagination Is a Big Thing.

Here is a great example of the juvenile as he soars high in the air, all the while never letting go of the nest. You can see his face as he looks skyward. I know he has to be dreaming about reaching great heights just like we used to dream of driving our own cars. He will stand there for nearly a minute before coming out of his dream of soaring with the big boys. I can just hear him now, ” Gosh, that was fun”.

Spencer Moore

http://www.drspencermoorephotograhpy.com

Working on His Pilots License

Our 10+ week old juvenile is currently working on his pilots license and apparently doing very well. He is working on take-offs and landings daily now and will soon be airborne. I believe he could make it now but he is still hanging on to that nest when he is practicing his soaring skills. It is funny to watch. He spreads those 8 ft. wings and soars and soars and soars, but never lets go of the edge of that nest.

Spencer Moore

http://www.drspencermoorephotograhpy.com