Bald Eagle

Description:

This magnificent raptor starts out mainly brown as a fledgling but gets its white head and tail in about 4 years. Male and female are similar in colors but the female is usually larger. In the photo, the bird on the left is probably in its third year.

Habitat:

These birds can be seen almost anywhere in the U.S. and Canada. They build the largest stick nests of all raptors; the nest can weigh up to 2 tons.

Notes:

I was photographing the younger bird (left side of pic) perched on a snag and facing toward the left of the picture. The perch is probably about 80 feet high. As I had my eye to the viewfinder, taking shots, the perched bird suddenly looked agitated or interested in something it could see, but I couldn't, due to tree foliage to my left. It even spread its wings right there on the perch when suddenly the mature eagle flies in from the left, which I couldn't see until it got into my frame. It happened so fast that I really don't know whether the younger bird was knocked off the perch or, it voluntarily took flight. But by the time this frame was shot (one of a bunch of burst frames), the mature bird ended up on the right clutching talons with the immature bird. I don't believe the birds are fighting--instead, this is a probably a version of the sky dances Bald Eagles do quite often. http://dennisdavenportphotography.com/ This image won 3rd place in the Ridgefield NWR 2011 Photo Contest and 1st place in the Adoramapix.com Your Best Shot of 2011 Photo Contest.