A Nat Geo Moment

One of the coolest things I have ever seen!

Early last spring, there was a lull in the fishing.  Our steelhead fishing was not where it should be, the weather was cold, and I was spending some time photographing waterfowl.     West Michigan has a dazzling array of water birds in the spring, and I was seeing northern shovelers, wood ducks, scaup, redheads, canvasbacks, and many other species.     Though I was seeing thousands of ducks, I was seeing very few birds of prey. 

That all changed one day.  As I watched a tremendous flock of ducks, I noticed a huge bird hovering over the edge of the flock.  There, an adult eagle was hunting.  

Eagles grow very old, and it clearly had a plan for hunting the bird it selected.    I like to photograph ducks on very windy days, because they have to take off and land into the wind.   The wind slows them down and makes them more predictable.   Out of the thousands of ducks at this location, this eagle had singled out one coot and separated it from rest of the birds.   There the bird of prey used the wind to swoop up and down at the coot, while expending very little energy.   The bird was terrified, and would only come up for a breath at a time.    The eagle was cunning, and easily wore its prey out by swooping down repetitively.   Finally the eagle made a move, and swooped down on the coot.    

It seized the coot, but lost it!   I was actually happy it missed because in the excitement of the moment, I realized that the shutter speed on the camera was too slow.    Soon the coot popped up again, and the eagle was ready.   So was I.       It was one of the most exciting things I have ever seen in nature.    If you take the time to spend time quietly on the edge of the water, or in the woods, you can see amazing things.   This is part of what makes fishing, hunting, and other outdoor activities such a rich part of our experience..     

To see more of this series of photos of the eagle and the coot, or to see waterfowl images, visit https://kevinfeenstra.smugmug.com/Whats-New.

Thanks for visiting our site!–Kevin Feenstra