It was a very tough weekend of shooting out on the river. Saturday it was really windy and there was 1ft swells on the river (1ft doesn't sound like much but when you are in a kayak trying to shoot pics, well, it definitely ain't fun), I took it as long as I could in the kayak but it was rough, water splashing over the side of the kayak with me and the gear just getting pounded for 4 hours straight. I managed to get a few shots, nothing spectacular but descent nonetheless...















After I got tired of being pounded by the waves in the middle of the river I decided to go over to the bay side of the river where it was a little calmer - when I got there I spooked not one, not two, but a total of three bald eagles (2 matures and 1 immature), they were way out of range for any descent pics but here is one in flight, a kind of "I Told You They Were There" type of photo...



Next week I may set up a stationary blind where I know these baldy's are and just camp out there and hope that I get lucky...

Here are a couple of other pics from the day.

[jpzk]

It was a very tough weekend of shooting out on the river. Saturday it was really windy and there was 1ft swells on the river (1ft doesn't sound like much but when you are in a kayak trying to shoot pics, well, it definitely ain't fun), I took it as long as I could in the kayak but it was rough, water splashing over the side of the kayak with me and the gear just getting pounded for 4 hours straight. I managed to get a few shots, nothing spectacular but descent nonetheless...

After I got tired of being pounded by the waves in the middle of the river I decided to go over to the bay side of the river where it was a little calmer - when I got there I spooked not one, not two, but a total of three bald eagles (2 matures and 1 immature), they were way out of range for any descent pics but here is one in flight, a kind of "I Told You They Were There" type of photo...



Next week I may set up a stationary blind where I know these baldy's are and just camp out there and hope that I get lucky...

Here are a couple of other pics from the day.

Superb shots as usual, Joe!
Favorites are: No. 6 and 7 of the osprey.
You are so lucky to have them around your area.

JP

[calculator01]

Those are very good. I love the second photo, the look on his face is priceless

[stormtech]

Fantastic once again Joe! And thanks again for a great Kingfisher shot - you are giving me the drive to try again with mine here at home.

Love the eyes in the second image - looking right through me!

#5 with the trail of water (or poop?) nicely captured showing motion - what bird is that in #4 & #5?

Sounds like you had a rough time of it with the water - I was thinking about you on the river while watching the weather radar with the storms moving your way on Saturday. And a stationary blind sounds much better to an old cripple like me - I need to do something similar down at the river bank if I am ever going to get that shot of my Kingfisher.

[slowpez]

From the look on the opsrey's face in the second shot I think he was also wondering what you were doing out there. Nice series. Baldies are great to see even if you can't get a photo but you managed at least one. Those last osprey shots are my favorites.

[daacon]

Nice series Joe the ospreys are impressive and not a bad shot of the eagle as well.

[NKK]

Great shots as usual, even from a moving kajak Thank you for sharing.
Looking forward to see what you get from the stationary blind

[joe.penn]

Thanks for all of the comments/compliments everyone, they are really appreciated!

You are so lucky to have them around your area.

Yes, I feel lucky to have so many of them around here, this area is a major breeding area for them. Once they leave out for the winter the hawks and a few other raptors will start showing back up, looking forward to shooting some of them this year.

#5 with the trail of water (or poop?) nicely captured showing motion - what bird is that in #4 & #5?

Stan, they are [Juvenile] Double Crested Cormorants (Double-crested Cormorant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) - the one that is flying, I think that is dirt coming off of him as he is flying away.

Baldies are great to see even if you can't get a photo but you managed at least one.

Yes they are - for me it is just an exhilarating feeling when I spot one as they are not common in my neck of the woods and especially not this time of year. Now that I know where they are I will be looking for some Kleptoparasitism aggression against some Ospreys.

I love the second photo, the look on his face is priceless

He kept moving his head left and right, almost like he was confused to why I was below him on the water and pointing a big object at him.

Nice series Joe the ospreys are impressive and not a bad shot of the eagle as well.

Thanks Dave, Hoping to get some better shots of the eagles now that I know they are there...

Great shots as usual, even from a moving kajak

Hoping that this upcoming weekend the water will be calm, it wasn't fun getting pounded by water and wind for half of the day. Here is a picture to show how it looked out there (this was before it started white-capping, when it started capping I drybagged the camera equipment just in case of an emergency):



Kind of hard to tell from that pic but you can see how far down the kayak was dipping into the water (you can also see in the front of the frame the wave top was level with the top of the kayak), I never did get the shot off I was looking to get of that Cormorant. I will note one thing, my weather sealed K5 and DA*300 handles the hours of soaking water during my journeys just fine...

[roentarre]

These photographs are simply gorgeous. These in flight shots are not only hard to do but also timing consuming to spot the opportunities to capture them in camera.

Some of the shots have unique angles that render them amazing to look at.

Thanks for sharing

[Rupert]

You post a lot of fine shots here, and these are no exception. As fine as the birds are, my favorites are the last two....and the last one in particular.....something just draws me to it.

Regards!

[Frogfish]

I really love that kingfisher ! Great set and especially the very last additional cormorant shot - out of kilter but still lovely !

[joe.penn]

@roentarre - thanks for the compliments!!!

@Rupert - thanks for the kind words, I too like the last shot (I think I need to snap more flowers)...

@Frogfish - thanks Kevin! I am starting to get closer and closer to the kings, my goal is to get close enough to where I can use the sigma 70-200 to give me a little more flexibility in the subject framing (a little better DOF control also).


Thanks again everyone for the compliments...

[loco]

These are fantastic, Joe! The bald eagle is a wonder. I recently saw my first one in the wild. It was an experience I'll never forget! My favorites of these are your incredible osprey captures. Just wonderful!

[dcmsox2004]

you're truly blessed with such a fantastic venue and assortment of great subjects to shoot... fine captures here... really enjoyed your series, dave m

[joe.penn]

Thanks Lori and Dave - the comments are very appreciated!!!