Hello Everyone!
Today I thought I would share with you a little slice of my adventure to "The Eagle Shack". The past couple of years I have gone out to the shack and have been able to see visits from Northern Goshawk and also the very lovely singing Bluebird. I arrived about an hour before sunrise, the time when you are just getting to see a little bit of light in the sky. As I was walking out to our shack in the field I saw an Adult Eagle fly into one of their favorite trees in the treeline that edges the field. It is very foggy and quiet as I make my way to the shack.
Once inside I set up my tripod and camera and prepare to wait. The sun is still not up over the horizon, but the light is enough so that I begin to see a lovely misty fog that is shrouding the trees and laying low along the field. I decide to use a wide angle lens to take in the scene. I am in my element just listening to the birds awakening to the dawn of day.
After a short period of time the sun is coming up over the horizon and I decide that I had best change to my 500mm lens in case I should see some bird activity. As I am in the process of doing this I look up to see a coyote coming out from the woods and into the field, he is cautious. I make a noise in my haste to try to get a lens on my camera and he begins to retreat. I freeze. He listens and watches. There are some Ravens on the ground picking at something that I can't see. All of a sudden he lunges at them and they scatter. He has gotten himself an entire carcass of something that appears to be just bones. He is retreating with his prize and I am frantically trying to get my lens on my camera and get it mounted back on my tripod. I am only able to get one parting shot. I didn't even have a chance to change my settings! It is enough. Not the greatest, but it shows him well enough.
You never know what might happen when you are out and about in nature. Sometimes I miss the shot and sometimes I just hold that image in my head. Either way, I feel blessed to be part of it.
Till next time,
Helen Denoyer