The Eagle Has Landed

We have a Golden Eagle that visits our valley on a regular basis.

I actually think he comes into the valley to hunt.

I have seen him several times since late February, but have been unable to get a photo of him.

I'm not actually sure if the eagle is a male or not, but for the sake of this post, I will call it a him.

Silly, I know! 

On my way home from work Wednesday, my husband asked me to make sure one of the pivots was on and running at the south end of our valley.

I slowed down to get a good look at the pivot, which wasn't on and then called my husband to let him know the details of the non-moving pivot.

I was on the phone for a bit and then hung up and headed on my way.

Before I crossed the cattle guard, I just happened to look out the window and up towards the high power lines.

And I spotted the eagle sitting at the very top!

I very slowly stopped the car and got out my little point and shoot camera.

I zoomed in as far as I could go with it and started taking photos.

This is the only photo that came out somewhat decent.

This was the last shot I took and then I looked away for just a second to check the camera and when I looked back the eagle had flown.

His wing span was massive! 

He was amazing to watch in flight!

I was pretty happy to get this shot.

I usually don't do much playing around with my photos to jazz them up, but I did crop this one and add the frame to help make the image "pop" a bit.

I don't have a fancy camera, I simply use a Kodak point and shoot at the moment.

Most all of my photos are SOCS (straight out of camera shots).

I will continue to watch for the eagle and hopefully get more photos of him in the future.

As I continued on my way that evening, I spotted a buck antelope standing off the side of the road.

He was standing and looking around for his girl, who wasn't far off.

I stopped the car, rolled down the window and made kissy sounds to get his attention.

He turned and looked right at me.

I was shooting directly into the sun and couldn't even see the screen while snapping away.

I got several photos, but this one turned out the best.

He moved towards me at one point and then turned away from me and headed towards his girl.

I'm seriously considering getting a new camera.

Maybe a middle of the road, fancy one this time!