Juvenile Bald Eagle in all its glory, probably in its 2nd or 3rd year. The bird flew by with something (little fish?) in its bill.
Yesterday a call from my photography friend Kevin made me aware that a large number of Bald Eagles is present at lock & dam #11 in Dubuque, Iowa. The Mississippi is finally frozen over almost everywhere and the eagles come south to find open water, so they can eat and hunt for fish. Below the dams is always some open water and that’s where they concentrate and strive for the best fishing spots. I estimate we saw about 40-50 Bald Eagles at and around the lock & dam in Dubuque, Iowa today. It is the highest number we have seen since quite a few years.
Adult Bald Eagle, Mississippi River, Lock & Dam #11, Dubuque, Iowa
I was excited to explore some of the new focus modes and tried to get a grip on shooting birds in flight with the new Nikon Z6II. Oh boy, the best tools can’t help you much if the handholding skills are not very well developed. I haven’t practiced panning with the long lens for quite some time, but it is an essential skill that needs practice if you want the focus lock on the fast flying subject. The focus tracking capabilities of the camera work very well, better than with any digital camera I ever owned before. If you pan very smooth and follow the subject, you can really concentrate where to position the bird in the viewfinder without loosing the focus and just decide when to press the shutter button. The new tool is great but I guess I have to practice some more and work again on my skills to have a higher keeper rate than what was produced today…
My favorite gesture of the day, the moment when the eagle went from smooth gliding into a sudden dive down.
All images: Nikon Z6II, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, FTZ adapter