Photo of the Week 2012-06-11

The second leg of travel to Northern Ontario and facility inspections for work had me driving from Kenora to Red Lake to visit 3 sites. I set out at 7:00 am and it was early evening by the time I left the last facility to head back to the hotel. Although it meant that it would be after 10:00 by the time I was back at the hotel, there was the possibility of seeing some wildlife in the evening hours with good light.

Driving on Hwy 105, I expected the usual moose and deer, but hoped for something different. I had seen a couple of eagles soaring overhead during the day and was on the lookout for one perched in a tree. This Bald Eagle obliged me by perching near the ground on some recently cut brush of the roadside embankment. Luckily there was a place to pull over and I walked up the shoulder of the hwy about 50 m slowly getting closer and snapping off a few exposures. The eagle got skittish and flew off so I went back to the car and had just resumed driving when I saw it again just down the road. It was perched in a better position and this time let me get close enough to get some good images..

perched

Moments after I made the exposure for this image, the eagle spread it's wings and flew off having tolerated my presence long enough. What a great encounter.

DJE