After several visits with no shooting opportunities, I was getting anxious for some shooting practice. I went to the tree earlier than usual in hopes of some better luck. For awhile it appeared as if my recent bad luck would continue. Then it happened!
I was mid-conversation when the eagle was spotted. It was coming into the tree at a bad angle for where I was standing and I had only a split second to respond. Raising my camera (which I already had set for flight shots), I fired away instinctively.As usual, I took a moment to enjoy the beauty of what I had just seen. Then I reviewed my images to find out what was being delivered. I saw a turtle grasp in the powerful talons being "one-hand delivered" as the eagle entered the nest tree.Then I noticed something unusual in the flight shot images...something in the other talons. It was a second turtle! I stared in disbelief at what I was seeing. The eagle had flown into the nest and was able to deliver two turtles...one in each set of talons.
It was several hours (about 4 hours this time) between incoming flights. This particular flight was made more interesting by the winds. The legs were lowered and the wings prepared much earlier in the incoming flight to apparently compensate for the winds.
"Landing Gear Down"
Flying in to the tree against the wind
