I took some interesting pictures of a spider on the covered dock and a few "landscapes". I just missed a Great Blue Heron but he was too skidish and didn't give me a chance to even raise the camera. There was also a Phoebee but in the dim light, I just couldn't get a good shot as he did not sit still for long.
Just as I was heading back uphill to my RV, a large bird flew overhead towards the bridge on Hwy 155. I saw a flash of white. At first I thought it was a heron, maybe with a plastic bag stuck to his foot or with an abeherant white tail. Then I saw the flight was not that on a heron. I realized that it was the bald eagle that I have heard lived in the area, but who had avoided me for the four months I have been here.
He landed on he concrete slope by the bridge as I moved back toward the parking lot by the lake to try to get a shot of him. Then he flew straight to the twin cypress just outside of the little cove by the marina and landed about half way up. I was shooting with a 200mm lens in dim light and hand held. I knew the images would not be good, but I was getting the best shot I could. I slowly walked forward to the closest point, expecting him to fly off at any moment. I managed to get all the way to the edge of the water, maybe 100 yards away. He watched me the whole way. Perhaps attracted by my red shirt, but did not leave. For about five minutes, I kept taking his picture, know that the images would not be very good as he was too far away for my 200mm lens and the light was quite dim.
Finally he took off, swooped low over the water and came up with a fish that was nearly a foot long. I kept taking the pictures, hand held now until he was just a speck.
I have seen bald eagles before, but I never fail to be in awe of them. Such a majestic animal. It was fun watching him in the tree and I was thankful for the opportunity to take his picture.
The pictures came out about as expected, not very good. By the time I blew them up to a size so he could be seen, the images were pretty flat and far from sharp. Don't care. It was a thrill and I look forward to seeing him in better lighting conditions.
Michael is a former biologist and Texas Master Naturalist. Originally from Newsome, Texas (Between Pittsburg and Winnsboro), educated in Dallas & Garland schools, then off to the University of Texas system where he received a degree in biology and worked as a biologist with the University of Texas system. After many years away from nature and biology, he relocated to the banks of Lake O' the Pines where he has been rediscovering the joys of nature. He is somewhat surprised that he has become a birder. Most of his interest in nature was centered around reptiles. Perhaps just like birds evolved from reptiles starting in the late Jurassic, he has begun his own evolution. During his formal education, his interests in biology/nature grew to include community ecology and population studies, all with a binding of evolutionary processes. He liked birds, but they were secondary at best. All at once he finds them fascinating.
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