Friday, April 25, 2008

First Photo Encounter, Immature Bald Eagle


During one of my morning boating excursions I had the good fortune to encounter an Immature Bald Eagle.

Bald Eagle sightings are becoming increasingly common in my area. As most know, the Bald Eagle fell prey to DDT poisoning. This along with the prevailing rural attitude of the past, many folks killed all predators on sight, including Eagles. During my growing up years, I never heard of anyone sighting an eagle.

From 1963 to 1980 there were only three known Eagle nest in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Game Commission began a reintroduction effort in 1983. Over the next seven years 88 Eagle chicks were removed from nest in Saskatchewan and placed in hacking towers here in the Keystone State. By 1996 twenty pairs were known to be nesting in the state.

Although I have sighted Bald Eagles a number of times over the last decade, this was the first time I had the opportunity to capture an image. On some issues I cannot agree with the Pennsylvania Game Commission but in the case of the Eagle I must applaud them for successfully returning this majestic bird to our skies.
Thank you PGC for a job well done!

7 comments:

dot said...

Wow, he's really beautiful in flight! Great shot you got!

Stacey Olson said...

What a beautiful and majestic bird..Thanks salty for sharing, It is great to see a whole family that respects and enjoys the outdoors.

Anonymous said...

I am impressed, Salty. This is a nice shot and one to be proud of. When you want something like this to happen and wait on it and then everything comes together like it did in this case, I don't know about you, but me, I stop and say a little prayer.

Prayer for the people who made the environment good enough and for the birds who recognize that and make it their home. And for yourself for having the camera and being there.

What a nice way to end a perfect day.

Tom said...

Well captured Salty
What an interesting post as well. It's nice to know someone as been looking out for these beauties... what a shame about past attitudes.. the same thing happened over here with many of our birds and mammals, many have been lost now

Tom

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Salty: Amazing capture on the flying Eagle. I heard a few were spotted checking out my lake a few weeks ago.

Kerri Farley said...

WOW! What an amazing experience! I would love to see one of these guys!!

Meggie said...

Thanks, Salty, for once again educating me on the reintoduction of the bald eagle in our glorious state. I did not know that the PGC was responsible...thanks to them...for this one, at least.