3-1-22

Another trip to the Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuges to look for Bald and Golden Eagles before ‘eagle season’ comes to an end for the year. This photograph came from within the Tule Lake Wildlife Refuge. This area remains infused with cultural and spiritual importance for many modern people of Modoc and Klamath descent. Native Americans consider the Bald Eagle and the Golden Eagle to be sacred. Because eagles are the highest flying birds, they were seen to be nearer to the Creator.

I was hopeful for some photographs of eagles although apprehensive about what I would find. With the drought situation, I knew water was becoming scarce in the area and thus worried about how many if any eagles I might find. I knew from a previous trip, that one of the large water areas of the Wildlife Refuge was already completely dry. But you never know until you try!

To my surprise, I saw several eagles in the refuge area. I took my time and was able to get closer to several eagles than I normally am able to. I also watched several eagles in flight, which is a bonus as I mostly just see them perched in different locations.

The refuge has placed several poles scattered in the area for the eagles to perch and hunt from. These poles have cross members like power poles, however, do not have any power lines or other obstructions on the poles. I watched a few eagles on these poles and some that were flying onto or away from the poles. Most were from enough of a distance away that I could not get an acceptable photograph.

But patience does sometimes have its rewards. I was able to capture a photograph of this Bald Eagle coming in for a landing on one of the power poles. I saw an eagle fly from this location as I slowly approached. I remained at the location hoping the eagle would return to the perch. As luck would have it, the bird returned. This photo is of the Bald Eagle coming in for a landing back onto its perch.

Of course, this all happens rather quickly. I looked at the back of my camera afterward and the photo seemed pretty good. You never are truly sure until you get back and download your photos to get a better look at them. Then you have to scroll through the hundreds of photos you took and try to find the ones that really stand out. To say the least, I was very pleased with this one and a few others.

Considering I was concerned if the trip was going to be worth it or not, I was very happy with the end result. A few others were pretty special also, but this might be my favorite of the day.