Hargis Eagles 1

A juvenile bald eagle makes an approach for a fishing run.

I have a treasure trove from a shoot I did on my birthday in December 2020. I had gone through and processed a few choice shots and shared them shortly after the shoot, but never really delved into the entire shoot. Fact of the matter is I got some fantastic shots of bald eagles. There were around a dozen hanging out at Hargis Creek Watershed in Wellington for a couple months. On my birthday, it was a beautiful clear day and I spent most of the morning taking pictures of the eagles doing eagle stuff.

An adult bald eagle searching for breakfast.

Hargis Creek Watershed is a small lake in Wellington, Kansas. Surrounded by a city park, you can drive right to the edge of the water at a number of spots. I have never been to a better spot to photograph these big birds because they hardly ever get really far away. From the point I took most of the pictures to the trees at the other side is only about 1400 feet. Most of the fishing activity goes on at less than half that distance. The lake has numerous dead tree rows in the water, and the eagles can land there without worry that you can get to them. They really paid very little attention to me.

A juvenile starts into its dive while an adult circles behind.

I will be sharing a lot of these pictures over the next couple weeks.

A juvenile makes a fly by.

It is pretty cool to get more than one in a shot.

The next few pictures are not crystal clear but I am including them anyway. Clear evidence that not all fish that get caught get really caught. Or at least shall we say not the entire fish got caught. This is one of a couple of failed attempts I got to record that day.

The eagle is about to strike.

Fish has been acquired.

Looks like those talons closed a little too hard and that fish came apart.

As the eagle came up above the trees, it looked down and started screaming. That is an eagle cussing.

Chunks of fish still falling away.

Not only did you not get that fish, but you have to take a flight of shame back in front of all the other eagles.

Another multi bird view.

One eagle on a dead tree in the water and four more in the trees across the lake.

That tree was a very popular spot. It sits right on a point so they can really get a good view of the lake.

Incoming!

A magnificent bird.