Juvenile Bald Eagle

It is very hard to capture the power and size of a juvenile Bald Eagle. Perhaps it is because they are juveniles and don't have the bold markings of the adults. Yet, there is no mistaking it - they are big and powerful.

I took several shots (in poor lighting) at pretty close range and I realized that the full body shots were not really telling the story. This huge bird was perched at the boat house at Quidi Vidi snacking on a fish that he plucked from the lake. He didn't mind my being there but I was cautious!

The more I looked at him, the more I realized the power was in the head, beak and talons so I began to focus on that.

At the tip of the beak is a very powerful nail that he uses to tear his food apart, very effectively, too.

When he tired of my watching him eat, he decided to take his breakfast and go elsewhere. It was then that I saw how big the fish was. He made a pretty good catch.  This fish was much bigger than the one that was snagged by an Osprey shortly after this event.

Quidi Vidi (any season) is sure to yield some amazing nature events, despite all of the people activity that goes on there.

This may be my last post for a couple of weeks as I will be taking a little time off during July. Please check back at the end of the month.