The Sneak

The bite has slowed in the last week. The bigger bass have gotten off the shoreline and the midday sun spooks the ones that are left. Shad are starting to ball up to spawn which will attract some nice fish but it has not really happened yet. Fish are still being caught but Christmas has passed.

The last couple of times out while the bass were not biting I spent some trying to put the sneak on some eagles. I learned that eagles are not easy to sneak up on. Apparently they have excellent vision and a 200 pound human tromping through the brush is no match for them. I imagine they had a good laugh watching me try. There are a couple of nests I have spotted while fishing and I tried to get above them to get a photo looking down. As soon as I had a line of sight to them they spotted me and moved off to sit on a perch away from the nest. I still got a few photos and got some other shots as well. Photography is fun but hopefully I can find a good bite somewhere.

http://i.imgur.com/fDGJq9C.jpg
A quail doing some kind of crazy dance.

http://i.imgur.com/0ZXeWtp.jpg
Red shouldered hawk looking for a meal.

http://i.imgur.com/hdsChXS.jpg
A nearby rabbit hoping he does not become the meal.

http://i.imgur.com/0X6XmyA.jpg
Fence lizard soaking up the sun.

http://i.imgur.com/hUxdmFB.jpg
Tree top perch.

http://i.imgur.com/3fOgqYE.jpg
A nesting pair looking stern and keeping an eye on the surroundings.

http://i.imgur.com/e2g33oh.jpg
Bringing in an unfortunate smallmouth bass.

http://i.imgur.com/knF9N5I.jpg
One tenth of a second after the previous shot. The nest is huge and the two chicks are visible. They look like raggedy ann dolls.
Many years of nest building there.

Thanks John
We ALWAYS enjoy your visual trips.
....lee s.

Another round of terrific pictures! Thanks for posting them. And thanks for the update on the fishing.

Vaughn

Wow! Thank you John. Those eagle pics look painted; just gorgeous.

Tim

Liking the red shouldered hawk shot a lot. And the eagle flaring as it comes in to land on the nest is nice too.

That hawk is a very colorful bird. There are a lot around here. They perch low, below the canopy sometimes so if you see one you are not looking straight up at it like you are with most hawks. I spotted that bird and he went upstream. I went upstream looking for him and back downstream looking for him and saw nothing. I left the creek and was taking a picture of a stupid squirrel and he was sitting right next to me. I took some shots and tried to reposition for a better shot but he moved just before I got it. There was another one nearby and they had a territorial scrap and then both left. I was lucky he did not spook when I was shooting the squirrel. If you go out and walk around quietly in a good area for a couple of hours something usually happens. The eagle shot is good but the best thing about it is I had a plan for how to get that shot and it worked. I like the quail. He looks like he is having a fun time dancing. I hear them all the time and never get close so I was very lucky to get that. I was in my boat and he was on a log right in front of me. I pulled my camera out of the hold and took the shot. There was a female also so it was probably courting time. Feeding, nesting and courting all provide good chances to get close. I like the lizard also. I need to shoot more lizards.

I think the next bird on your "must photo" list should be a merlin. They're cool little assassins. Can fly through the forest like no other raptor can. Had a great view of one up on Mt Diablo quite a few years ago before I had a long lens.

I don’t think I have seen a merlin ever. I will have to look into that. I see kestrels a lot but not the merlin. I want to a really good gray squirrel picture. I saw one an hour ago and it was in a good spot for a photo but no camera.