First Eagles of 2013

 Finally returned to Sydney,Nova Scotia to photograph the Eagles now that a little ice has formed along the shoreline.On Sunday morning ,a warm front passed through with the temperature rising up to 7'C(45'F).
 Once we gathered along the shoreline we were greeted with a few Herring gulls and a special 2nd Winter Iceland Gull who for the most part was a little bit of a bully when the food was out.

2nd Winter Iceland Gull

Iceland flying by

 While waiting for the Eagles to show up a Raven stopped in for a snack,which I really appreciate because I tried before to photograph them with little success because of lighting problems.

Raven having quick snack

 Once the Eagles started to fly we had an amazing day with about 7-10 Eagles circling around to bombard Us.As the ice flows broke up we had to drop the food precisely on top of the ice as the food sank if we missed to the joy of the Gulls. 

 With about 6 photographers yelling which Eagle to shoot at,we were spinning around like tops.After about 2 hours the eagles had enough and with all the laughs and Nikon-Canon debates done,we called it a day.

  Can't wait till next weekend for the get together again great laughs,good friends and lots of photo opportunities.Here are a few of the Eagles we seen.........Mostly shot with Nikon D90 Sigma 150-500 lens @ISO200   F9 Aperture Mode  between 200mm-300mm focal length...enjoy. 

Getting drive bombed from above

Locked and Loaded

Coming in on the flows

A successful grab 

 

Long Tail Duck

 On the way to my photo outing in Sydney,Nova Scotia came across this male Long Tail Duck grooming himself near the shoreline.Decided to try and sneak up on him,to my surprise he could careless I had stopped to photograph him.After a few minutes I walked down the shore to get closer and he kept playing in the ice flow.
 After about 10 minutes I left the duck, to continue on to my photo shoot,as I looked back he was still making himself pretty.Here's a few shoots of the grooming sessions enjoy:

grooming

Paddling around in the ice flows

Long Tail Duck

Windy Visitor

   After a quiet christmas,we had a few days of strong winds and large surf.A friend of mine called me to say there were a few ducks being pushed close to shore with the winds,so I went down to watch the waves and look for a few photos.
  While walking the shoreline I came across one of my favorite little waterfowls a Dovekie,which when I started making decoys as a hobby,was my first set I made and still use to attract ducks near the wharfs.The dovekie had come ashore and seemed confused, so I approached her and after watching her trying to walk,realized they weren't meant to be on land,like the loon.
   Once I took a few shots of her,I seen she had calmed down,I decided to try and pick her up to move towards the cove where the water was calmer.To my surprised she let me or was too tired to fight,once I released her I watch as she slowly swam around and after a few drive I left hoping she'd be alright.
  Here a photo of the Dovekie sitting on the beach....