9 Bald Eagles Hunting the River (1 Viewer)

[WileyCoyote]

Hello,

I'm not a bird watcher or a wildlife photographer. I know very little about birds other than I love watching large birds of prey when they are around. I'm lucky in that Bald Eagles and Redtail Hawks are in my area.

This morning and yesterday morning I watched 9 Bald Eagles hunt the Fox River near my residence in northern IL. I attached a photo of four of them perched in their tree. At one point 6 were in that same tree. It's a max zoom shot from my phone so it's crappy. I did run home and grab my Sony a7iii and my longest bit of glass which is an 85 1.8 but my battery was dead so I didn't get any good photos or video.

I have several questions if anyone could help me out.

1. The tree in which they like to perch is very close to a house that has a Chihuahua. The owner will let her out on her own in into a fenced in back yard. Any worries there?
2. What do young Eagles look like. I saw 3 of the birds mostly brown with splotchy white pattern but the same silhouette as the adults.
3. Do they usually hunt in family groups?
4. How's the best way to approach photographing them? I've never done wildlife photography and I don't want to spook them. My camera will track them just fine, I shoot dogs running at full speed at the dog park and in the action shots they are tack sharp. There is a great spot on the opposite river bank which is about 100-150 yards away from their spot.

Thanks in advance for any answers or comments.

 

[KC Foggin]

I know I nearly fainted when I had just one Bald Eagle hanging around in my yard. I can't imagine having as many as you have.

Hi there and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum
We're glad you found us and please join in wherever you like.

 

[MiddleRiver]

Hello,

I'm not a bird watcher or a wildlife photographer. I know very little about birds other than I love watching large birds of prey when they are around. I'm lucky in that Bald Eagles and Redtail Hawks are in my area.

This morning and yesterday morning I watched 9 Bald Eagles hunt the Fox River near my residence in northern IL. I attached a photo of four of them perched in their tree. At one point 6 were in that same tree. It's a max zoom shot from my phone so it's crappy. I did run home and grab my Sony a7iii and my longest bit of glass which is an 85 1.8 but my battery was dead so I didn't get any good photos or video.

I have several questions if anyone could help me out.

1. The tree in which they like to perch is very close to a house that has a Chihuahua. The owner will let her out on her own in into a fenced in back yard. Any worries there?
2. What do young Eagles look like. I saw 3 of the birds mostly brown with splotchy white pattern but the same silhouette as the adults.
3. Do they usually hunt in family groups?
4. How's the best way to approach photographing them? I've never done wildlife photography and I don't want to spook them. My camera will track them just fine, I shoot dogs running at full speed at the dog park and in the action shots they are tack sharp. There is a great spot on the opposite river bank which is about 100-150 yards away from their spot.

Thanks in advance for any answers or comments.

Yes the 'splotchy' brown ones are juveniles. Here's a nice resource where you can see adult vs juvenile etc.

Bald Eagle Photos and Videos for, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The Bald Eagle has been the national emblem of the United States since 1782 and a spiritual symbol for native people for far longer than that. These regal birds aren’t really bald, but their white-feathered heads gleam in contrast to their chocolate-brown body and wings. Look for them soaring in...

www.allaboutbirds.org

I have heard 3-4lbs as the typical lifting weight for an adult eagle, so other than kittens or puppies, I would not be worried about a dog. That said, there are reports of pet owners concerned about eagles. ymmv!

For the most part, eagles prefer to eat fish and carrion. We've seen them on roadkill as well as deer season gutpiles. I have not seen them hunt in coordinated groups, but when salmon are running in AK, I've seen many roosting in close proximity to each other and to water. It's quite a sight!

Can't help with photo question but I do know that if they are feeding on an unusually abundant food source (fish run...), they must get fat, lazy, and comfortable, because they didn't seem to care about humans nearby!

 

[Bill Atwood]

85 is pretty short for bird photography, even for large birds.

 

[Kits]

Welcome to Birdforum. I hope you enjoy your visits.

 

[WileyCoyote]

Yes the 'splotchy' brown ones are juveniles. Here's a nice resource where you can see adult vs juvenile etc.

Bald Eagle Photos and Videos for, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The Bald Eagle has been the national emblem of the United States since 1782 and a spiritual symbol for native people for far longer than that. These regal birds aren’t really bald, but their white-feathered heads gleam in contrast to their chocolate-brown body and wings. Look for them soaring in...

www.allaboutbirds.org

I have heard 3-4lbs as the typical lifting weight for an adult eagle, so other than kittens or puppies, I would not be worried about a dog. That said, there are reports of pet owners concerned about eagles. ymmv!

For the most part, eagles prefer to eat fish and carrion. We've seen them on roadkill as well as deer season gutpiles. I have not seen them hunt in coordinated groups, but when salmon are running in AK, I've seen many roosting in close proximity to each other and to water. It's quite a sight!

Can't help with photo question but I do know that if they are feeding on an unusually abundant food source (fish run...), they must get fat, lazy, and comfortable, because they didn't seem to care about humans nearby!

Thank you!

That is exactly what I saw. Those were juveniles, they had the same pattern. As far as hunting, if they were not roosting one or two of them were cruising over the river about 50-100 yards away from my position and pulling fish out.

Gulls are also in the same area. In large numbers would they run off the eagles? I've seen a redtail chasing off an eagle, they both cruised about 20 yards over my house.

Thanks again.

 

[WileyCoyote]

85 is pretty short for bird photography, even for large birds.

Sony has a nice 70-200 2.8 would that get the job done or should I be looking to get into the 400 range. I'm looking to pick up a telephoto to add to my glass.

 

[Bill Atwood]

Sony has a nice 70-200 2.8 would that get the job done or should I be looking to get into the 400 range. I'm looking to pick up a telephoto to add to my glass.

With birds longer is usually better (and more expensive!) The new 70-200 gets rave reviews, but reports on using the 2x extender are mixed. The 100-400 is good and can be useable with the 1.4x. The 200-600 is great and works well with the 1.4x, but it's a bit heavy for some. On the plus side its cheaper than the 100-400. Tamron has a 150-500 for Sony that gets very good reviews. The newer a9, a9ii have very good focus hit rates and are fantastic compared to the Canon 7DII I previously used. The phenomenal a1 is even better.

 

[WileyCoyote]

With birds longer is usually better (and more expensive!) The new 70-200 gets rave reviews, but reports on using the 2x extender are mixed. The 100-400 is good and can be useable with the 1.4x. The 200-600 is great and works well with the 1.4x, but it's a bit heavy for some. On the plus side its cheaper than the 100-400. Tamron has a 150-500 for Sony that gets very good reviews. The newer a9, a9ii have very good focus hit rates and are fantastic compared to the Canon 7DII I previously used. The phenomenal a1 is even better

@Bill Atwood Thanks for the recommendations. I have a Sony A7iii already. I'm probably going to upgrade to the mark iv later this year. I did pick up the 100-400 4.5-5.6 and got some shots. The lens works great but the dummy behind the lens needs to really work on tracking and his settings to do a much better job.

I've attached a couple of shots that I've gotten of the eagles in the area.

Thanks again!

.

 

[Bill Atwood]

Glad you're happy with the 100-400. For the fantastic autofocus I still recommend the a9, a9II or a1, but of course they are a bit more $$$ than the a7IV. Mark Galer and Patrick Michael Racy (PM-RTV) have some very good YouTube videos on setting up various Sony mirrorless cameras. Patrick's recent a7IV is at:

 

[Trinovid]

This morning and yesterday morning I watched 9 Bald Eagles hunt the Fox River near my residence in northern IL. At one point 6 were in that same tree.

The tree in which they like to perch is very close to a house that has a Chihuahua. The owner will let her out on her own in into a fenced in back yard. Any worries there?

Probably not a problem as long as they're getting enough to eat, but they can take a small dog if they decide the opportunity looks right.
There was a newspaper article about a dog getting snatched in Valdez years ago with multiple witnesses, but still more of an anomaly than a common occurrence.