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Daily Bucket Friday Sequence: First Flint Hills Fall '22 Fleet Eagle [1]

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Date: 2022-12-09

It was a fine but fleeting feature for 10/19/22. We'll be playing the effing game today. Forgive me. I won't overdo it.

THE DAILY BUCKET IS A NATURE REFUGE. WE AMICABLY DISCUSS ANIMALS, WEATHER, CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, WATERS AND NOTE LIFE’S PATTERNS. WE INVITE YOU TO NOTE WHAT YOU ARE SEEING AROUND YOU IN YOUR OWN PART OF THE WORLD, AND TO SHARE YOUR OBSERVATIONS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.

Flint Hills of Kansas 2022

The earliest I’ve ever seen an Eagle here in the Flint Hills was on a mid September day a few years back. I was ill equipped for such an assignment.

I wasn’t much better equipped when I took this one on a similar perch later in 2021.

Last year, with another new lens I made my first fall sighting on Oct 6, then didn’t see another until well into November.

10/6/21

First Flint Hills Baldie in 2021. 10/6/21 I was pretty happy with this one at the time. Better lens, better pics.

Thankfully I had a very good Bald Eagle year that winter and upgraded my photo collection as the ‘21/’22 winter progressed. But this story is about a new beginning, with yet another new and improved lens, and that beginning occurred with a sequence of pics I stumbled upon…

10/19/22

I was returning home from the second of two trips to and from Emporia that day and had just captured (with yet another new lens) a banner waving photo session of a dark morph Red Tail (which I incorrectly identified as a Rough Legged Hawk...we’ll get into that ballofwaxonJan1 Dawn Chorus) on highway 99 S.

After turning off Highway 99S and onto Wagon Trail West for the final leg to get home I arrived at the S curve where I had managed maybe the best Harrier photo shoot of my life the previous fall (www.dailykos.com/.... ) That location is about six miles west from my place. There is an old barn in a small sparse grove of trees there, surrounded by some Tallgrass prairie. A few of the trees around the old barn have become snags in their last phase of existence. I saw a Red Tail perched in one of those snags as I headed into the curve. Looking back for a last glimpse of the Red Tail I saw more white than a Red Tail should show so I immediately stopped, knowing exactly what I had actually seen. I backtracked around the curve until I had the light right and stopped again. Sure enough the “Red Tail” was studying me just as intently as I studied it, except now I could clearly see this was no Red Tail. It was a Bald Eagle, my first Bald Eagle sighting of the new season. I was immediately excited. However, as soon as I stopped the Eagle made up it’s mind to flip the field of play and launched from its perch on the snag. I quickly grabbed my camera and got out of the truck to begin clicking like a madman. Here is the sequence in the order those clicks happened.

I like this first sighting photo better than the first sighting from last year, which ls another way of saying I’m getting off to a good start in this new season. This Eagle is figuring to make a good start too...to a different location. Closer

Off into the wild blue yonder.

Bald Eagle programming a new flight plan.

Free flight and in full control. Bigger

The Eagle dropped in altitude to gain extra speed and take advantage of the back cover of the trees. Bigger

After clearing the trees it turned to pass right over my head in order to get a clearer look at me. In your face

Is this close enough? Closer

Closer yet! Duck!

Okay, we all know it isn’t a duck...

Thanks pard, for the classic view. How did you get that Starry eye?

For a sequence finale the Eagle provided this parting gift. Waving its wing Goodbye

After this flyby the Eagle flew toward the south, briefly landing atop a distant power pole. It then took off again into the setting sun and disappeared over a hill on the horizon. It left me hoping this was just a taste of what is to come during this new season for Eagles in the Flint Hills.

11/19/22

I took a short ride this morning and spotted my third Eagle of this season. It was just a few miles from my house on a limb in what was my Red Tail Nest #1 tree this past spring.

11/19/22

11/19/22

It flew away too, but wasn’t in a big hurry. I sat watching it circle over the expanse of prairie surrounding the nest tree for about 15 minutes. By that time it had migrated southward and was nearly out of sight, so I went on up the hill toward the scene of what will be my next Friday Sequence topic.

11/29/22

Although I didn’t manage any real good pics I did manage to get verification shots of Eagle #4 for this season. I have hopes for a re-do with this one. The light was not good this early morning while I was on my way for a load of hay. I get a lot of my pics to and from doing chores.

Eagle #4 BIF of the new season.

Bald Eagle #4 BIF. 11/29/22 I’ll keep trying.

This Eagle was still there on my way back with a trailer load of hay. It was even more shy this time but the fact it was still there gives me hope it likes the neighborhood and will return.

Eagle #5 12/1/22

Eagle #5 sighting didn’t amount to much in the way of photos, but it’s always a thrill to see one. And now, having made several sightings, I am encouraged about the possibility of raising my bar again this year for Eagle photo/s.

The Eagle didn’t give me much of a chance on this day. It immediately settled on using the old glide-low-ditch ’em trick. Of course it worked. As soon as it passed from sight below the near bank I never laid eyes on it again. But seeing the context in which I hunt Eagles isn’t all bad. Just try to ignore the oil well pump. That’s what I TRY to do… ZOOM

12/5/22 Eagle #6

Today was extremely foggy and dark and not the kind of day you would think might result in good photos. But I had to take Beck to town to pick up some meds she was out of. I have learned that you always take your camera or you will miss out on something special. I took it and Eagle #6 for this season happened. I was surprised the pics came out as well as they did. Here is a short sequence of shots of an Eagle that didn’t seem terrified of me. Inclement weather seems to have that effect of wildlife. Some reasons are that moisture in the air makes things quieter, suppressing noise. It also reduces the effect of animals superior sense of smell and therefore their anxiety level over our presence.

At first I saw a hawk perched in a tree overlooking a goose-less pond and went on by. But it struck me that was an awfully big hawk. So I stopped, backed up, then stopped again with the ‘hawk’ in view. It wasn’t until I looked at it through my big zoom lens that I could verify it was a Bald Eagle.

Tree perched Eagle surveying a pond you would expect to have geese on it. It just watched me as I clicked a number of pics at long range. But it lost interest after a bit and decided to try a different perch. That new perch was just a short distance from the perch you see here.

The Eagle lifted off in what seemed like a lazy, but powerful, flapping of giant wings. It had no intent to go very far and selected a snag that was even closer to me! Considerate Eagle, huh?

The Eagle’s choice of new perch site was quickly made clear. It worked around the smaller branches to land in the middle of them on the broken off main trunk. Closer

The Eagle carefully settled down to land on its new perch. Even though the small branches stole focus it showed us a hint of detail. ZOOM

Ah...our Eagle now has a better view of a bare pond! I'm pretty sure he won't stay here long but I am very happy to see him while he's here. ZOOM

Our Eagle stared intently down at the empty pond as though that would make something appear. The only thing that appeared was the best detail in this series of pics! ZOOM

I found it hard to believe, but the Eagle lifted off and chose yet another perch which allowed it to inspect the pond from yet another angle. That didn’t make anything change so it launched for a flight somewhere to the north, thus ending this interaction. Besides, Beck is reminding from her open window that she needs to get to the post office in time to get her mail sent off before the deadline.

My deadline is the day the last Eagle leaves in spring. By that time I fully intend to have raised my bar for Bald Eagle photos. I am shooting for sequence action to accomplish that.

I have a friend in New York by the name of Elliot Cobin. He is about my age but is a lifetime photographer who has been helpful to me. He is also on Flickr and has recently posted some knock-your-socks-off Bald Eagle fishing, feeding, and fighting, sequences at Conowingo Dam. His recent Eagle pics have reset where I want my Eagle bar to be. If you would like to view his amazing photostream collection (the eagle sequences are at the beginning on the first page) click this link and enjoy yourself… www.flickr.com/…

You can view updates to my flickr photostream here… www.flickr.com/...

OK, lets fall in and fly off forever into a fabulous comment factor.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/9/2133830/-Daily-Bucket-Friday-Sequence-First-Flint-Hills-Fall-22-Fleet-Eagle

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