Copyright © 2017 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Nikon D810| Nikkor 200-500mm @500mm| SanDisk Digital Film| PS CC 2017
more to come…
Category: Bird Photography
Wordless Wednesday 25/52 Nuttal’s Woodpecker
Copyright ©2017 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm @460mm| f/5.6| ISO800| 1/1600s| Hoodman Digital Film|PS CC 2017
more to come…
Juvenile American Bald Eagle’s Maiden Flight!
Copyright ©2017 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
I received my long lens back from service and couldn’t wait to get out and try it, but I got that bug so, didn’t go out to try it until yesterday (Sun. June 18th). I headed over to Milpitas to see if the American Bald Eagle Fledgling was out of the nest testing its wings. I arrived just before 7 A.M. I didn’t have to wait long before it started flapping its wings and hopping onto a branch outside the nest.
It sat on the branch surveying the land for a bit then turned around and did a hop/fly combo back to the nest where it tucked itself down out of sight. It remained out of sight for over an hour. As we waited the morning got hotter, and hotter. When I left just before noon, hot, sweaty, and very thirsty it was 96º degrees Fahrenheit. The high hit a record breaking 103º F! That broke the 1945 record of 99º F.
Myself and several other photographers, and birders were patiently waiting for one or both of the parents to return with food, and of course we wanted the Fledgling to come up out of the nest again, but quite a few people left as it began getting hot and there wasn’t anything to see.
Finally, the young Eagle got restless and called its parents to no avail then it began to jump and flap its wings again. It jumped way up and flew to the branch! It stayed there awhile pecking at the branch and looking around then suddenly it made a leap of faith into space and FLEW!!! Its maiden flight! A Fledgling at last!
Oh, I wish you were there to see it, to feel our anxiety and hope for success, and hear our joyous cries of delight when the young Eaglet made that leap of faith and flew to a neighboring tree!
There are quite a few images today, and the story doesn’t end here! Because there are so many images I’ll share the rest of the story another day. I hope you enjoy these first images of the young Eagle’s Maiden Flight.
Popping up to check out what’s happening…
Lemme test out my take off, and wing position. I wonder…
Ha! I’m outside of the nest! Okay, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.
Ready. Set.
GO!
Okay, wings start flapping already!!
Oh, nearly there I can make it! Talons ready, tail in position…wings open…
Ta Da!!! I made it, I made it! Where’s Mom? Now, how do I get back to the nest?
Nikon D810| Nikkor 200-500mm| Hoodman Digital Film| PS CC 2017
more to come…
Wordless Wednesday 19/52 “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” ― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Copyright © 2017 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm| Lexar Digital Film| PS CC 2017
More to come…
A cheerful sight!
Copyright ©2017 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
If I’m lucky I get to see and photograph a Hooded Oriole once during Spring. This year I was lucky! Isn’t he beautiful?
I was photographing the Bald Eagle when it left it’s perch and flew away. After watching it soar higher and higher into the thermal stream I turned around to head to the car for the next birding location and, there this Hooded Oriole was! It must have been watching and waiting for the Eagle to leave so it could claim the perch for a little while.
Have a great and cheery week-end everyone!
Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm| Lexar Digital Film| PS CC 2017
More to come…
3wk Old Anna’s Hummingbirds on the Edge of Fledging
Copyright ©2017 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Saturday I paid another visit to the wildlife refuge with the Anna’s Hummingbird chicks to see their progress. Seeing them was nothing short of amazing! Each visit brings new delights, and wonder to my eyes and soul.
They were bigger and their feathers, and colors were more like Hummingbirds now. I must have just missed Mom when I got there.
It wasn’t long before she returned to feed them. Here’s probably the last image I’ll have of them together as a family.
After feeding the chicks rested a minute. Then the one on the right got very active flapping its wings preparing for flight.
…and before I knew it it did an in flight turn just milliliters above the nest and BOOM! it was on the branch! ” Ta Da! Look! I’m as big and beautiful as Mom!”
Siblings on the verge of Adulthood, and Flight.
I heard yesterday that they are flying around well above the branches now. They’ll be leaving the nest today I think.
I feel so blessed and lucky to have seen these two delightful gifts of nature.
Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm| Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2017
More to come…
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