Storybook

Baby Bald Eagle and other Critters

Like I always say, I never know what I'm going to see when I go out with the camera looking for wild bald eagles at the beach in Vancouver. If there is a low tide and the flats at Spanish Banks are exposed I can walk out to the water's edge, usually under 3 meters of ocean, and capture images of bald eagles (and heron, seagulls, seals) fishing.

At the bald eagles' nest at Jericho I have been able to get some really good images of the newly fledged eagle baby. Other times I don't really see much of anything.

Today was such a day, although I was graced with a few moments where both one of the adult bald eagles AND the baby flew directly over my head.

One of the adult eagles

not to be outdone, the baby flies over me as well

The eagle baby briefly sits on its favourite branch low in a tree on the edge of Locarno Beach, above the trail (notice the ominous crow in the shadows behind, the baby eagle glancing back)

Soon the baby eagle flies away from me. I walk out just a short way onto the tidal flats, manage to get a couple of shots of adult eagles flying by. On their way home after a nice lunch?

I'm beginning to think today might be fruitful after all! Encouraged, I head back to the eagles' nest at Jericho Park to see if I can find the eagle baby.

No such luck. I can't resist taking a shot of a bunny scurrying past.

and another one. Be careful little bunny, out in the open like that! An eagle might just swoop down and eat you. I have seen the carnage, remnants of bunny limbs and fur below the eagles nest.

They hang out in the Park's Board yard (the concrete wall behind this fellow) where there is grass seed and other green things to nibble. I have seen the male adult eagle swoop down from a tree overlooking the yard and come up with an unsuspecting bunny.

Is this the same black bunny? Not sure, with Flicker.

I soon bore of this subject. Before heading home I take a quick wander along Locarno Beach, perhaps the eagle baby is exploring the shorefront again. Don't see anything, but an Osprey flies low overhead.

It wisely does not stick around. The bald eagles do not allow any other bird of prey access to their territory. They don't react much to osprey or juvenile bald eagles, but if another adult flies over - especially if it doesn't seem to be in a hurry - the eagles defend their territory with a rather stunning display. All the wee birds and small animals run for cover.

Once the adults chase the intruder off they remain on high alert for a while, boldly calling and waving their wings from the highest branches.

Osprey

Is it looking at me? I seem to have a unique ability to snap the shutter just at the moment I am being considered!

I'm not quite as satisfied as usual. I really want more photos of the eagle baby! Soon the season will be over and it will leave the nest site for parts unknown.

-Keta

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Baby Bald Eagle Explores Shorefront

Its a sunny weekend morning, I race down to the beach almost before I'm completely awake. I can't wait to see what my bald eagle baby is doing!

I reach Locarno Park, gaze at the nest above the Park's Board yard (across from the Jericho Youth Hostel) but I don't see the baby bald eagle anywhere. I listen carefully, but don't hear its distinct call. I check its favourite tree by the path at the edge of the beach but its not there. Not on the pier of the Jericho Sailing Centre either.

Hmm, what to do. I could head back up the hill home for some coffee, then come back later in the day. But I linger, hesitating to leave on such a pristine summer's morning. I decide to walk out a bit on the tidal flats, look out towards Spanish Banks. Maybe I can capture images of some of the adult bald eagles fishing, like I did a few weeks ago.

A hush. I stop. Suddenly I notice, right there in front of me on the foreshore, is my baby bald eagle! He's exploring. (I've decided its a male, don't ask me why.)

You can almost feel the sensory input filtering through him, as he experiences these things for the first time ever.

I have trouble getting really close; judging from the skittishness of the juvenile bald eagles I have encountered on the tidal flats, this one - a brand new baby fledged from the nest not one month ago - will be even more prone to fly away.

He checks me out, I stay still. His curiosity at this interesting watery ground keeps him in his place. I consider approaching closer.

Its probably best to just stay where I am. I plan to get lots of quality photos of this fellow, I don't want to acclimate him to being scared of me right off the bat!

Check out his shining eagle eyeball.

He flies off eventually anyway, looking to explore another part of the beach. I follow, but can't close the distance between us as much as I'd like to.

Step to the take off . . .. 

 . .  . and hes off.

It sure is hard to know what to do. I hang back, trying to appear nonchalant, taking shots intermittently. 

Even still he keeps flying away.

That's enough for today. I don't want to be perceived as interfering with nature in some way. Its a short sojourn this morning, but still important for my chronicle of this newly fledged bald eagle baby.

I'll come back again another day soon.

-Keta

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Baby Bald Eagle!

I'm so excited. Taking the lifeguard's scoop from last week I head down to find the bald eagles' nest in Locarno Park by the Jericho Youth Hostel (Vancouver). I'm meandering around in the grass scanning the trees when I hear a different kind of bird.

I dash to the beach front, following the sound. Almost immediately I find the bald eagle baby . . .. this is the most fantastic thing!! Must have fledged from the nest just in the past couple of weeks.

S/He's in a low branch of a tree just on the edge of the beach, above the path. Perfect for my camera!

What a pretty thing, I am immediately captivated. I can't help but shoot off a series of photos.

Looking right at me. Makes me feel like I'm really interacting (kind of looks angry, as bald eagles tend to. Fierce.)

Calling to parents for food.

Against a backdrop of leaves. Looking at me again?

Soon one of the bald eagle adults arrives with a fish. The baby eagle flies to the nest for a mid-day feeding.

Look at its perfect, round baby eagle belly, its claws neatly tucked up against itself. You can just see it's sharp eagle eyeball through the wing feathers as it passes me.

I think I'm in love, actually.

After lunch the bald eagle baby rests in the shady cottonwoods across the baseball diamond (above SW Marine Drive). I wait patiently, and am eventually rewarded with a lovely stretch of its wings.

Curiosity brings it to the pier at the Jericho Sailing Centre. I balance on the rocks, staying a reasonable distance away. But some people approach, completely ignore my warnings, and scare the baby bald eagle off so I don't get a better shot than this.

*sigh*

Back to its favourite tree on the edge of the beach. It has been literally hours . . .. I will return another day for more photos.

Again I make my way up the hill home feeling absolutely satisfied. From now on I will divide my time between the low tide at Spanish Banks (just  a short ways west of here) and the Jericho bald eagles' nest site.

-Keta

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Baby Seal Naps on Sandbar

OK there are no bald eagle photos in this post, but I simply can not resist sharing the experience.

Summer is passing along, it is now the end of July. Lovely warm beach weather, summer vacations and extreme low tides work together to bring all kinds of people - and dogs - to the sand bar out at Spanish Banks tidal flats in English Bay (Vancouver). The eagles tend to keep away now, at most flying over briefly, and occasionally swooping down to grab a fish but then flying right back to the trees on the shore.

I thought this might happen so resign myself to a suntanning session, of course keeping the camera close and scanning the skies at intervals for activity. But mostly I'm just relaxing.

As usual people are walking the length of the sandbar and back. One group approaches me quite close, clearly trying to get my attention.

"There's a baby seal that climbed up to take a nap!", they tell me in thick German accents. Wow, that sounds cool. So I grab the camera and walk over.

Quite a crowd has gathered, people are chattering amongst themselves and discussing what to do.

"Is it hurt? What should we do? Someone go get a lifeguard."

I don't know about that; even at a brisk pace it's a half hour walk at least back to shore. I am about to suggest that maybe we should pour water on it, maybe it's drying out! When a woman speaks loudly, calming everyone down.

"No, no. Don't do anything. This is completely natural. It's just climbed up here to take a nap. Everyone stand back, leave it alone, by all means don't touch it or the mother will abandon it."

So everyone settles down, takes two big steps backwards and just gazes in wonder at this beauty of nature.

The children especially were fascinated, asking so many questions! Many of which the adults couldn't immediately answer.

I too am fascinated. The seal is so little, it must be just a couple of months old. Imagine if this was out in the open water somewhere along the coast of British Columbia, this little guy would be in danger from sea lions, orcas . . . I don't even know what.

Oh man, after about half an hour it wakes up, looks up slightly surprised to see a crowd of people gathered around it, yawns widely (which I miss with the camera, unfortunately), rolls over and goes back to sleep!

A hushed whisper moves through the crowd, this is really an amazing moment. Something that happens all the time in nature, but that humans - particularly city folk - rarely get to see in the wild.

The baby seal sleeps for another 20  minutes or so. Some of the people have moved off, while others stop on their walks to take their place. Each new arrival is informed of the situation, with the children really becoming experts at explaining.

Finally, well over an hour after I first arrive, the little thing wakes completely and decides to start wandering back towards the water. But slowly, sleepily, totally comfortable in its surroundings and taking its time.

Kind of looks like its blinking in the bright daylight.

This boy in particular is really good, so curious. When told to leave it alone he doesn't try to touch it, in fact he draws a circle in the sand a few feet around the baby seal, telling everyone they were not allowed to step inside. And he runs down the beach whenever someone with a dog approaches, warning them to keep the dog away.

A future forest ranger perhaps?

As the baby seal approaches the water line it starts to wake more fully.

This is so funny, when it gets to the water the baby seal doesn't dive right in as I thought it would; it kind of skirts the waves. Almost as if the water is too cold! I'm not sure why it doesn't just dive in.

OK now its a bit more in the water. I guess the seal warmed up on the sand so wanted to acclimate to the chilly waves for a bit.

Or maybe it doesn't want to leave its adoring audience! It sure does seem to love the camera.

We start wondering if the baby seal is following  me, so I step into the water. But it doesn't follow, it keeps checking out the water line.

Finally everyone steps far away. Maybe this is normal, maybe our presence is distracting it. Either way we don't need to be right there beside it.

We stand up on the sand bar discussing the situation when the wee baby seal dives right into the waves and starts swimming out.

You can almost hear it saying, "Mama! Mama, I'm ready for my lunch now mama."

Another wonderful day on the tidal flats, another grace of nature for my camera.

-Keta

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Adult Bald Eagle Steals Juvenile's Fish

These tidal flats at Spanish Banks in English Bay (Vancouver) are turning out to be a non-stop adventure of wildlife wonder! I come down very early today because I want to catch the good light during an early morning low tide. Way down on the farthest west reaches of the flats is a juvenile bald eagle eating a fish.

As I try to get close I discover it is much more skittish than the adults; it won't even let me get within a hundred meters. We are engaged in a frustrating dance . . . me creeping up step by step, it wafting away from me at intervals, when I spot movement in the sky.

An adult eagle is descending rapidly from on high.

After banking it swoops in fast, dips down 

and steals the fish right out from under the juvenile eagle

then drifts off towards the water line. Check out the juvenile, s/he's all like, "Hey!"

The juvenile bald eagle can only follow

and sit on the sand sort of forlornly watching its breakfast get devoured.

I can't capture it on film but the juvenile actually bobs back and forth from foot to foot at one point, kind of like, "Come ON! Give it BACK! That's mine!!"

The juvenile eagles nibbles at some scraps on the sand while waiting its turn. 

Finally the adult bald eagle has had enough, and moves off to let the juvenile eat. The fact that the adult doesn't chow the whole fish down tells me that it isn't really hungry, just wants to teach the juvenile a lesson. Because all the bald eagles I have ever seen eat just piggishly scarf down their food, gobbling great pieces, letting bones and scraps and such scatter around them.

The juvenile eagle picks at its breakfast while the adult keeps an eye on the surrounding landscape.

After a while the adult bald eagle dips its beak into the ocean, as if to clean it.

I find this behaviour fascinating; I know for a fact that the juvenile eagle had the fish first because it took me quite a while to get close enough to take these shots, and the adult was nowhere in sight. I'm guessing that - since bald eagles in the wild have no natural predator - the adults give the juveniles a hard time. Sort of field training, because as soon as they get their adult colours (five years old usually) they start nesting. That means they have to birth and rear chicks of their own. It also means they have to defend their territory against other birds of prey, especially bald eagles. So they need a lot of skills and to be very sharp.

Some time passes until the juvenile eagle has had its fill and simultaneously - almost as if on cue, which I also find odd - the two lift off at the same time, then fly away in opposite directions.

What a great day! It's not even ten in the morning and I feel like I've already done a full day's work. I wander home across the tidal flats, looking for more bald eagles but mostly just enjoying the moment that has just passed.

-Keta

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Amazing Wild Bald Eagle Photos!

It's funny how things happen, when I go out with the camera I never know what I am going to find. I spent the day out at the sand bar, favourite hunting territory for the bald eagles (and heron, and seals) but don't see any. I guess there are too many people about.

As I pass the lifeguard on the way back to shore he strikes up a conversation, asking what I'm doing with the camera. When I tell him, he lets me know that there is a bald eagles' nest by the baseball field at Locarno Park (between the Jericho Youth Hostel and the Jericho Sailing Centre). Very exciting news! After a while I thank him for the tip and start back to the beach.

I'm walking along the shore line of the low tide at Spanish Banks in English Bay in Vancouver, passing people enjoying the great weather. I keep scanning the sky for eagles; I just never know what I am going to see. But I don't have much hope, and am completely unprepared, with the camera off, the lens cap on, and put away in its bag.

About half way back to shore I see an eagle coming in, it's going to fly right over my head! Like a sniper I have the camera out, cap off, charged and ready in a matter of seconds. Just in time to capture images of the eagle flying directly overhead.

Wow cool, s/he's looking right at me. But it doesn't just fly over, it circles around. Then around once more. I'm just madly snapping photos - some of them are at odd backwards angles - while it goes around me a couple of times.

It's looking in my direction again, something interesting must be going on right where I am standing.

At this point I get kind of breathless for a second, because - seriously - look how close it is! 

This is getting very odd, it keeps circling around and around over me, and again its looking at me. Usually the eagles barely notice humans, just tolerate our presence and maybe moving off a bit if someone gets too close (or if a dog comes running up, which I find more annoying than I can describe).

I have to change film, literally praying to God that it doesn't fly away while I have the camera open. I take a split second to glance at the ground at my feet; perhaps there is a fish or other food that this eagle dropped on an earlier pass? I don't see anything but don't really care either, not wanting to miss this fantastic opportunity.

Then, it starts calling while circling me. It is definitely trying to chase me off.

Usually I can't tell them apart, but this particular eagle I know I have in other photos because it has a band and a missing feather in its right wing.

Still circling, how long has it been? It feels like many long moments. 

Finally it gets fed up with me and heads back to shore.

I look back the people on the water, several of whom were watching in wonder but have now returned to their play, then do a little celebration dance. A couple walking out from shore towards me witnessed the whole thing and stop for a moment to marvel with me.

Extremely satisfied, I turn the camera off, put the cap on and close it back into its bag. I've walked about 10 meters, all buzzed and happy, when I see the eagle get up out of its tree and fly back to that spot! Argh, mad flurry to whip the camera out once more.

I get a good shot of it with a fish (there must have been one where I was standing before)

Then it passes by me so close I miss half of it in the frame. I probably shouldn't share this photo but - oh man! - wouldn't you?!

I am so greatly encouraged by this experience that I vow to return whenever the tide is low. Plus now I know where an actual bald eagles' nest is, which should offer me lot of great photo opportunities as well!

More soon.

-Keta

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