The Symbol Of AMERICA... YAY!
Akirasho
Posts: 1,892
I Was JRA When...
... I looked over my left shoulder...
I'd almost decided not to come out on Sunday. It was dreary, cold and windy but with temps expected to peak in the mid 50s (they never did during my ride) I figured I'd log a few miles 'tween weather fronts.
My route varied as I'd also planned a bit of foul weather photography (trying to develop techiques and practices for less than optimal conditions) and eventually ended up downtown on a local multi. Being old with a prostate to prove it, I was headed towards some facilities when a Bald Eagle cruised by about 80 feet out... about 15 feet overhead. Sadly, I did not have my camera ready, but hey... this was the closest I'd ever been to an eagle in the wild so it was all good. I was so jazzed that I even asked a few pedestrians that were in the area if they'd seen it too (sadly for them, no)!
Anywho, I hit the head. I've had a bit of experience photographing wild life and one lesson learned is that they rarely stop to pose for you. I figured the bird was on it's way further upriver (much more wooded than downtown). Still, what the hell. I was logging miles and riding back to the area wasn't gonna adversely hurt my plans. Indeed, as I neared the spot, I was CERTAIN that I saw the bird roosting atop a streetlight!
Hurridly, I snatched my cammie outta my backpack and eased towards the fixture. But, as mentioned above, my eyes are on a par with my prostate and what I thought was an eagle was actually a traffic cam!!!! SHLITZ!
Still, I'd come all this way... I'd tool around a bit (a wooded area tuck'd tween the downtown, the river and residential areas). I paused for a second to allow a pedestrian in front of me time to clear a bridge when, I looked a bit left from the traffic camera...
Didn't have much time to set up the camera (the bird was on the wing again within a minute of my arrival) but with the right software and post processing, I think the images are still a keeper... the memories certainly are.
Addendum:
I'm no expert, but I believe that there are several known nesting pairs in the area. Indeed, I saw one downtown just a few days ago and took this while actually trying to catch a Redtail that was thermalling several hundred feet lower!
Younguns might not recall that the American Bald Eagle was endangered not too long ago and it's resurgence is one of the best examples of what enviromental protection can reap. DDT, a common insecticide 40 years ago, was found to be a direct cause in the dramatic drop of the eagle population (DDT caused the eagle eggs to form with too thin a shell that broke long before the embryos were viable). The chemical is now banned (I believe in all of North Americas) in the US. YAY!
... and while I'm here, here are a couple of Redtails (like the Tuskeegee Airmen of WWII fame)
Yay!
... I looked over my left shoulder...
I'd almost decided not to come out on Sunday. It was dreary, cold and windy but with temps expected to peak in the mid 50s (they never did during my ride) I figured I'd log a few miles 'tween weather fronts.
My route varied as I'd also planned a bit of foul weather photography (trying to develop techiques and practices for less than optimal conditions) and eventually ended up downtown on a local multi. Being old with a prostate to prove it, I was headed towards some facilities when a Bald Eagle cruised by about 80 feet out... about 15 feet overhead. Sadly, I did not have my camera ready, but hey... this was the closest I'd ever been to an eagle in the wild so it was all good. I was so jazzed that I even asked a few pedestrians that were in the area if they'd seen it too (sadly for them, no)!
Anywho, I hit the head. I've had a bit of experience photographing wild life and one lesson learned is that they rarely stop to pose for you. I figured the bird was on it's way further upriver (much more wooded than downtown). Still, what the hell. I was logging miles and riding back to the area wasn't gonna adversely hurt my plans. Indeed, as I neared the spot, I was CERTAIN that I saw the bird roosting atop a streetlight!
Hurridly, I snatched my cammie outta my backpack and eased towards the fixture. But, as mentioned above, my eyes are on a par with my prostate and what I thought was an eagle was actually a traffic cam!!!! SHLITZ!
Still, I'd come all this way... I'd tool around a bit (a wooded area tuck'd tween the downtown, the river and residential areas). I paused for a second to allow a pedestrian in front of me time to clear a bridge when, I looked a bit left from the traffic camera...
Didn't have much time to set up the camera (the bird was on the wing again within a minute of my arrival) but with the right software and post processing, I think the images are still a keeper... the memories certainly are.
Addendum:
I'm no expert, but I believe that there are several known nesting pairs in the area. Indeed, I saw one downtown just a few days ago and took this while actually trying to catch a Redtail that was thermalling several hundred feet lower!
Younguns might not recall that the American Bald Eagle was endangered not too long ago and it's resurgence is one of the best examples of what enviromental protection can reap. DDT, a common insecticide 40 years ago, was found to be a direct cause in the dramatic drop of the eagle population (DDT caused the eagle eggs to form with too thin a shell that broke long before the embryos were viable). The chemical is now banned (I believe in all of North Americas) in the US. YAY!
... and while I'm here, here are a couple of Redtails (like the Tuskeegee Airmen of WWII fame)
Yay!
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Comments
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Doesn't look bald...0
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Impressive - i thought I was lucky seeing a buzzard.
Have you seen the feathered symbol of the UK
The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns
momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.0 -
Great photos - thanks for sharing them. Whereabouts are you?0
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At the minute Stoke - but I move round a lot - thanks for askingThe dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns
momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.0 -
Fab photos, thanks for sharing.
I once spotted a Golden Eagle while on holiday in Scotland (having just checked Wikipedia they seem to be broadly similar in height, wingspan and weight to Bald Eagles) and was truly gobsmacked by just how large it was. Amazing birds.0 -
All lies and jest..still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest....0
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Nice one. Saw a pair of buzzards today and even though they are fairy small raptors, their bulk is impressive when you see them up close.0
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Oh and nice pic that cleat. Got something of a Henri Cartier-Bresson about it. You've a wonderful eye.0
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Akirasho wrote:craker wrote:Great photos - thanks for sharing them. Whereabouts are you?
... this is as close as I feel comfortable letting you foreigners get to me... :roll:
Too much information
Organising the Bradford Kids Saturday Bike Club at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre since 1998
http://www.facebook.com/groups/eastbradfordcyclingclub/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/eastbradfordcyclingclub/0 -
Why is Centerville....slightly off centre? The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns
momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.0 -
Aha! This answers the perennial Frank McAvenny question: "where's ra burdz?""Get a bicycle. You won't regret it if you live"
Mark Twain0 -
Cleat Eastwood wrote:Why is Centerville....slightly off centre?
... look at the spelling... we 'Mericans don't understand why you Brits are always playing with your r's...0 -
Graeme_S wrote:Fab photos, thanks for sharing.
I once spotted a Golden Eagle while on holiday in Scotland (having just checked Wikipedia they seem to be broadly similar in height, wingspan and weight to Bald Eagles) and was truly gobsmacked by just how large it was. Amazing birds.
Couple of months ago I was out near Bury St Edmunds and I saw a bloke about to cross the road while apparently wrestling a large, heavy brown umbrella. As I drew closer it became clear it wasn't an umbrella but an immense bird of prey sitting on his arm. Golden eagle apparently, and he was just taking it into the opposite field for it's exercise / training.0 -
Akirasho wrote:Cleat Eastwood wrote:Why is Centerville....slightly off centre?
... look at the spelling... we 'Mericans don't understand why you Brits are always playing with your r's...
From the country that loses vowels all the time... :PChunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
2011 Trek Madone 4.5
2012 Felt F65X
Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter0 -
The jury is still out on that whole independence thing, you know ;-)0
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I bet it was exciting/tedious (delete as appropriate) living in Ohio over the last month or so...!"That's it! You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college! " - Homer0
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MaxwellBygraves wrote:I bet it was exciting/tedious (delete as appropriate) living in Ohio over the last month or so...!
... I have no idea of what you speak??? We Ohioans are normal and simple folk with nothing but love and joy in our hearts as we set about determining the fate and future of the world with the power of our mighty finger on the button at the polls...0 -
just fantastic Akirasho, just fantastic!! thanks for these picsAkirasho wrote:I Was JRA When...
... I looked over my left shoulder...
I'd almost decided not to come out on Sunday. It was dreary, cold and windy but with temps expected to peak in the mid 50s (they never did during my ride) I figured I'd log a few miles 'tween weather fronts.
My route varied as I'd also planned a bit of foul weather photography (trying to develop techiques and practices for less than optimal conditions) and eventually ended up downtown on a local multi. Being old with a prostate to prove it, I was headed towards some facilities when a Bald Eagle cruised by about 80 feet out... about 15 feet overhead. Sadly, I did not have my camera ready, but hey... this was the closest I'd ever been to an eagle in the wild so it was all good. I was so jazzed that I even asked a few pedestrians that were in the area if they'd seen it too (sadly for them, no)!
Anywho, I hit the head. I've had a bit of experience photographing wild life and one lesson learned is that they rarely stop to pose for you. I figured the bird was on it's way further upriver (much more wooded than downtown). Still, what the hell. I was logging miles and riding back to the area wasn't gonna adversely hurt my plans. Indeed, as I neared the spot, I was CERTAIN that I saw the bird roosting atop a streetlight!
Hurridly, I snatched my cammie outta my backpack and eased towards the fixture. But, as mentioned above, my eyes are on a par with my prostate and what I thought was an eagle was actually a traffic cam!!!! SHLITZ!
Still, I'd come all this way... I'd tool around a bit (a wooded area tuck'd tween the downtown, the river and residential areas). I paused for a second to allow a pedestrian in front of me time to clear a bridge when, I looked a bit left from the traffic camera...
Didn't have much time to set up the camera (the bird was on the wing again within a minute of my arrival) but with the right software and post processing, I think the images are still a keeper... the memories certainly are.
Addendum:
I'm no expert, but I believe that there are several known nesting pairs in the area. Indeed, I saw one downtown just a few days ago and took this while actually trying to catch a Redtail that was thermalling several hundred feet lower!
Younguns might not recall that the American Bald Eagle was endangered not too long ago and it's resurgence is one of the best examples of what enviromental protection can reap. DDT, a common insecticide 40 years ago, was found to be a direct cause in the dramatic drop of the eagle population (DDT caused the eagle eggs to form with too thin a shell that broke long before the embryos were viable). The chemical is now banned (I believe in all of North Americas) in the US. YAY!
... and while I'm here, here are a couple of Redtails (like the Tuskeegee Airmen of WWII fame)
Yay!0 -
I startled a Golden Eagle Into flight earlier this year on a ride in Tuscany. I cut through the apex of a corner where it was sat at the road side and it took off as I passed. I don't mind admitting I bricked it initially, though this was soon replaced with awe.0
