Golden Eagle Vs. Bald Eagle

I was going through my backup drives to clear out images I do not need and came across these images of a Golden Eagle going at a Bald Eagle at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland. We had seen comments online that there was a Golden Eagle that was staying around the Refuge giving visitors a good chance of getting some photos. I probably posted some before but I re-adjusted some of the images for more detail and better color. All Images were taken with a Canon 400mm DO lens with a 2x Teleconverter giving me a focal length of 800mm on a Canon 1Ds MkII. With the 2X Teleconverter my f/stop wide open was f/8 so I stopped down 1 more f/stop to get a little more detail.

Golden Eagle & Bald Eagle going at each other. Canon 1Ds mkII, 2x Teleconverter, f/11, 1/800 sec., +0.33 exposure compensation for lightening dark color of the Eagles.

Needham Skimmer Dragonflies – Part 2

A series of Needham Skimmer Dragonflies images taken at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge near Cambridge Maryland. All images were taken with a Canon 7D with a 300mm f/4 lens & 1.4x Canon Teleconverter. The Featured Image is a 5 Image Panorama of the Female Needham Skimmer Dragonfly.

Needham Skimmer Dragonfly, Female. Canon 7D, 300mm f/4 Canon Lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, f/11
Needham Skimmer Dragonfly, Female. Canon 7D, 300mm f/4 Canon Lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, f/11
Needham Skimmer Dragonfly, Female. Canon 7D, 300mm f/4 Canon Lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, f/11
Needham Skimmer Dragonfly, Female. Canon 7D, 300mm f/4 Canon Lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, f/11
Needham Skimmer Dragonfly, Female. Canon 7D, 300mm f/4 Canon Lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, f/11
Needham Skimmer Dragonfly, Female. Canon 7D, 300mm f/4 Canon Lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, f/11
Needham Skimmer Dragonfly, Female, Canon 7D, Another 5 Image Panorama, 300mm f/4 Canon Lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, f/11

Seaside Dragonlet Dragonfly At Blackwater NWR

On our visit to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland I had the chance to photograph a couple of Dragonflies I never photographed before, the Needhams Skimmer (Female) & the Seaside-Dragonlet (male). We only saw a couple of these at the refuge. One by the first Observation Platform along the Wildlife Drive and the other was at the was in the Marsh Edge Trail area.

Seaside Dragonlet Dragonfly (male), 300mm lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, Canon 7D
Seaside Dragonlet Dragonfly (male), 300mm lens 1.4x Teleconverter, Canon 7D

Blackwater Great Blue Heron In Tree

I am still going through images from our visit to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge which is 12 miles south of Cambridge, Maryland. The images here are of a Great Blue Heron roosting in a tree along the Wildlife Drive. It seemed like it liked posing for me so I had a lot of poses to choose from. Here are a few from the series of images of the Great Blue Heron. On a few I removed a tree branch here or there. was trying to see which I liked better. All images were taken with a Canon 7D with a 300mm lens with a 1.4X Teleconverter.

The Last In The Series & He Is Saying “That’s All So Move On!!”

Distant Eagles At Blackwater NWR

We finally got a chance to go back to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland to see if we could find some Bald Eagles to photograph. It is about a 4 hour trip from where we live. After getting there we were surprised to see 2 Bald Eagles in a tree right after entering the Refuge. One was on one side and the other was on the other side of the same tree. But those will be in a different post. The images here were taken near the end of the 3.6 mile Wildlife Drive across the water near the exit. There usually are Bald Eagle and Osprey nests in the trees because they can fish right below. The only problem is it is pretty far from where we are on the Wildlife Drive.

View of the trees across from the Wildlife Drive. There are usually many nests in the trees here because the Eagles & Ospreys can fish close to their nests. 17 Vertical Images Panorama, Tamron 150-600mm @ 150mm
2 Bald Eagles in Tree across from Wildlife Drive Exit. Tamron 150-600mm @ 600mm, Canon R
2 Bald Eagles in Tree across from Wildlife Drive Exit. Tamron 150-600mm @ 600mm, Sigma 2X Teleconverter for 1200mm, Canon R

Winter Sunrises & Sunsets At Blackwater NWR

The images here are from Winter visits to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge over a few years. The Featured colorful ice image was taken at sunrise with a Sigma 300-800mm lens @ 300mm on a Canon 20D .

Blackwater NWR, early morning, Canon 1D mkIII, 17-40mm @ 17mm
Blackwater NWR Sunset, Canon 7D, 100-400mm @ 170mm
Blackwater NWR, Sunset, Canon 400mm DO lens, Canon 7D

Bald Eagle Fly-By @ Blackwater NWR

A series of 3 images of a close Bald Eagle Fly-By taken at the Blackwater NWR in Maryland. I was using a Canon 400mm DO lens with a 1.4x teleconverter on a Canon 1D mkIV. I shot a series of images as it flew by me but I only used a few images here with the wings up. I seem to see more Bald Eagles at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge near Cambridge Maryland than any of the other National Wildlife Refuges near me. I also read somewhere that it has the largest population of Bald Eagles in the Northeast.

Bald Eagle Fly-By, 400mm f/4 DO lens, 1.4X Teleconverter, Canon 1D mkIV
Bald Eagle Winging Away, Canon 400mm f/4 DO lens , 1.4X Teleconverter, Canon 1D mkIV

Blackwater NWR Wildlife Drive Exit At Sunset

I was going through Backup Drives to cleanup duplicate files & unneeded images and I found a folder with sunset images from Blackwater NWR. The sunsets at Blackwater NWR can be very colorful and dramatic. The Featured Image was taken with a Canon 15mm Fisheye lens on a Canon 1DmkIII and was taken a little closer to the exit than the image below. The images taken with the 15mm Fisheye were adjusted in Photoshop to remove the “Fisheye” Look & Effect but maintain the wide view.

Blackwater End of Wildlife Drive Staightaway to Exit. Farther away to exit than Featured Image. 5img Pano, 15mm Fisheye Canon Lens, Canon 1D mk III
End of Wildlife Drive. Left side view on Staightaway to Exit. 24-105mm Canon Lens @ 32mm, Canon 1D mk III
Side View Before the Straightaway to Exit. 2 image pano with Canon 28-135mm lens @ 28mm, Canon 1dmk III
Setting Sun on other side of Straight away before turning to the exit. Canon 28-135 lens @ 41mm, Canon 1dmkiii

Blackwater NWR Clouds At Sunset

I was working on files from previous photo trips. Now that I am retired I can go through my backup drives to post images that I did not have time to post before. This is a Sunset taken at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland a few years ago. Dramatic or interesting sunsets are quite often seen at Blackwater NWR. Some have told me that dramatic sunsets at Blackwater are because it is somewhat close to the coast. I am not sure on that, but Blackwater NWR does deliver on interesting sunrises & sunsets! Image taken with a 14-140mm lens @ 48mm on an Olympus body. I was going retouch out the aircraft contrails, but decided to leave them in.

Eastern Pondhawks At Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

We usually like going to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge outside of Cambridge Maryland for photographing Bald Eagles. It usually has one of the largest amounts of Bald Eagles in the Northeast. But in the Summer I also like it for the large amounts & different types of Dragonflies you can find. Here I am posting some images of Eastern Pondhawk Dragonflies. Blackwater has a long Wildlife Drive so you can find a large variety of Dragonflies because of the different varieties of habitats along the Drive. Some of the best areas are by the Observation Platform that goes out above the grasses over the water & along the Wildlife Drive where there is standing water on both sides of the Drive.

Female Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly, 400mm DO lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, Canon 1D mkIV
Female Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly, 400mm DO lens, 1.4x Teleconverter, Canon 1D mkIV
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