Mid-Summer Bald Eagle Activity

As the weather heats up on the west coast it becomes a very challenging time to film bald eagles. Not only do the eaglets (juveniles) fledge from the nest - requiring a heightened level of attentiveness by the parents in a sensitive time - but the hot sun drives the eagles to spend more time in the cool treetops.

This week the low tide at Spanish Banks in English Bay (Vancouver) comes in the morning. It's usually a good time to get some eagle footage, as there are generally less people about and the light tends to be very good. Yesterday I was there before 9:00am, already the sun was quite hot and the eagles were scarce.

From what I could see, they must fish and hunt in the dawn hours, because by mid-morning they just flew from the shore out to the water, scoop up a fish and fly right back. Usually they sit on the sand after they have eaten, kind of relaxing, or maybe just taking in the scenery.

I did manage to get reasonably close a couple of times, but only for a moment before the eagle flew away. I did have the good fortune of being able to follow one back to what I believe to be their nest site. It sat in a tree just above the road so I got a good shot of that, then flew off to the waterfront only to come back very soon, fly right over my head and sit back in the exact same branch.

I'm going down right now for some more footage, am hoping that by being an hour earlier I can have better luck.