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Keywords:family, wild, vacation, lake, bird, nature, beauty, birds, Oregon, flying, in flight, wings, eagle, dusk, Flight, Bald Eagle, beak, mercer, explore, crop, Harmony, Terry, thief, white head, American Eagle, Eagles, sights, Shining Star, raptors, scavenger, Music To My Eyes, southern oregon, Double Dragon, Beautiful Bird, My Winners, Diamond Award, HeartAwards, Terry Mercer, foghornleg90, Raptor Fishing, while boating
Eagle IN FLIGHT - with Fish - IMG_2642

Eagle IN FLIGHT - with Fish - IMG_2642

Interestingly - in this photo, the protective membrane is covering his eye.*****************************************My 75yr old dad, 17yr old son, and I were fishing late in the afternoon on a lake about 2hrs north of Grants Pass. We caught a few nice ones, had the fish on the stringer - but dad forgot the stringer was still in the water (my son & I were ignorant), and dad gunned the motor taking off for the boat ramp across the lake. My son noticed our stringer was empty, thinking Grandpa let the fish go... and commented on it. Dad stopped the boat, and in a few seconds we figured it out. The force of the water peeled all our fish from the stringer. At about the same time I noticed the white tail of the eagle grabbing our fish, which were now floating on top of the lake. I dove for my camera, which was up under the front seat, nearly falling out of the boat. Got the lens cap off, and started snapping away. The eagles were about 300 to 500 yards away... it was dusk & clouded over... and the camera was set to full manual (for my earlier scenery shots)... and it took a few to get the focus & framing. And to alter a few of the settings while they were still close enough to capture. The shots are still a lot more pixelated & grainier than I'd prefer... but still made me real happy. It's not everyday you get shots of wild eagles... even more rare to get them with fish in their talons... and it's even more rare to have those fish be ones YOU CAUGHT! LOLCamera: Canon EOS 50DExposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)Aperture: f/5.6Focal Length: 320 mmISO Speed: 1600Exposure Bias: 0 EVFlash: Off, Did not fireBut here is the MOST interesting stat: Camera Temperature: -128 degrees Celsius. I swear that's what the EXIF tag says. Now, I'm no metric wiz, but that sounds like we should have been in Antarctica during an icy wind storm or something. In reality I'd say it was really about +34F - with a wind chill & the rain dropping it another 10 to 20 degrees (Fahrenheit) depending on the gust direction. One end of the lake was a great deal colder than the other, depending on if it was coming from the snow covered mountains or from the tree lined valley. I still find it interesting the camera though it was so much colder. Didn't think dSLR's worked well below +20F, at least I've had trouble in the past with them.Anyhow, there is a mated pair of Eagles at the far end of the lake, off a river just out of Roseburg, Oregon... at the base of the Cascade Mountain Range. It's either a long & challenging hike through the wild around the lake, or you have to have a boat to see them most of the time. Luckily we had a boat this trip, which got us a bit closer to where they were grabbing our fish. Smile... My boys & I are planning to head up when their babies are hatching... and try to find some angles that will allow shots of them. Not sure how possible that is, because their nest is nearly 200ft off the ground in a massive tree.