Juvenile Eagles at Play

After a few days of high octane airplane racing and all the good things that brings to me, I needed to slow down a bit.  Catch a sunrise.  At the Refuge.
This late in the summer, catching sunrise means after driving for about an hour, getting to the Refuge just before 7:00 is doable.  With an earlier sunrise, earlier in the summer - that's tough.
There's so much more action with the transition into the day from night.  Always worth the trip.  Even if the photography is a bit more difficult.  By difficult, I mean challenging.
I missed a few Eagle shots where one was flying close overhead.  Just not enough light to bring out the details.  I missed one wood duck shot, not enough light to aid the auto focus for a quick shot.  The mental images are still there and that's not all bad.
Like all people in this hobby, (I think) I need a bigger lens.  The 70-300 is very good for shooting aircraft.  I could use more of course, but trading off weight for actual use is a consideration.  Or lugging around a heavy duty tri-pod.   When the time comes, I'm sure there will be a post.
Anyway, I could have used more reach here.  This was a great situation with three juvenile Eagles taking over an area in the wetlands.  Not seen off to the left is a group of Pelicans.  I watched for about ten minutes as the pelicans lost ground to the Eagles and then just went in search of a new area.  All that is missing from this scene is t-shirts on the Eagles, with a rolled up sleeve covering the cigarette pack.  It was gang like.  Welcome to the Jungle.
This is about 200 yards away.  I tend to think in terms of a football field.  Maybe 150 yards.  But far enough away.  This was fun to watch and makes the early morning rise easy to deal with.

Three Juvenile Eagles at Play

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

600 mm, 1/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 140 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size 1.3

Juvenile Eagles at Play

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

600 mm, 1/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 125 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size 1.3

Where's the third Eagle?  Pestering the Pelicans.

Pelicans and Eaglet

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

600 mm, 1/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 125 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size 1.3

Fun to watch.  (Controlled) nature at its best.  For whatever reason, the Eagles spent most of their time not looking in my direction.  Turn it around, and these shots would be prize winners.