This is another favourite Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) shot taken along the BC coast.  This eagle looks regal and proud in this pose and certainly had that demeanour about him.   I enjoy watching and photographing these eagles, there just seems to be something magical about them.  After about three months and before leaving the nest for the first time juveniles are almost the same size as an adult, but mottled brown in colour.  They are often mistaken for Golden Eagles, but are totally unrelated.  Shortly after leaving the nest they will continue to grow and due to wing, tail and feather growth will appear to be larger than the adults before they are six months old – they shed their feathers over their immature years and these are replaced by progressively shorter ones as they mature.

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So, after no eagles on the blog all year, you now get two in a week!  After unexpectedly visiting an area with a view direct in to an eagles nest yesterday, I just had to post about it straight away.  It was a great morning on the BC coast watching the comings and goings of the adult bald eagles as they fed their young chick. Following a recent storm, the nest has only 25 percent of it’s original nesting material remaining, but is still home to one chick, (in centre between adults).  Originally, before the storm there were two chicks, but it is not known if the missing chick fell out, was blown out or was pushed out by it’s sibling, something that is not unusual with eagle chicks of this size. Mom looks like she is staring right at the camera, if should could see me under the tree line, I do not know, but I am over 70 metres from the nest on the edge of a sheer granite cliff, so she had nothing to fear, as I would not be getting any closer!
More shots from will be posted on the eagle gallery as soon as possible.