Upper Skagit Ice and Frost

I have completely failed in posting a photo per week but that's not to say I haven't been doing photographically related things. I'm in the process of converting my workflow to Lightroom. There's a lot to learn and adapt but it will be worth it in the long run.

In early January I headed up to the upper Skagit River in search of Bald Eagles. The full blog posting is here: 10,000 Foot View.

While waiting for some activity I found this interesting formation of ice and frost:

January 3, 2011 - Upper Skagit River

From late November until late February the upper Skagit River area is home to numerous Bald Eagles that migrate down from the North. Unfortunately that's also some of our rainiest and grayest periods of weather. While you can always see a number of these magnificent birds, the light and rain are not always conducive to photography. However if it's relatively dry I do try to make it up there.

On this trip up there were quite a few eagles along the river but they were usually too far off for decent photos. I had resigned myself to a few landscapes and headed back home. Along one stretch of the road I saw a couple of photographers with a large lenses. That's always a good sign. There's not a lot of places to pull over along that road but I managed to squeeze onto the shoulder and get my gear out.

Crossing the road, getting over the Jersey barrier and then scoping out the river below I saw an eagle feeding on a salmon carcass.






There were a number of seagulls hanging around hoping to snatch a morsel or two. Occassionally the eagle would vocalize ("screech", "caw", ???). These photos were taken from 95 yards away. (I know this because I picked up a laser rangefinder off of CraigsList.)



After a while a number of eagles appeared. Most of the newcomers seemed content to stand nearby and not approach.



Amazingly, a juvenile came up and snatched a large chunk of the salmon right out from under the first eagle. I was surprised that the first eagle didn't even attempt any resistance.



Watching the eagles landing gives you a unique perspective on the wingspan.



Here's a juvenile flaring out with talons in position.



I did capture two of the eagles scuffling. Actually not much of a tussle as the younger bird quickly submitted.






Another display of the eagle's wingspan.