Manny, Moe and Shemp

One of the critters at the Refuge that can be counted on, when the sun is out, are the turtles.  Usually they are confined to the Shiawassee River that runs along the west side of Abbott road.  I can see them sunning their cold blooded bodies on the tree debris. 
These three, however, were not in the River.  These three are on the east side of the road.  The light seemed to be better.
I saw these three and instantly though of sets of names, Manny, Moe and Jack and Moe, Larry and Shemp.  I think it fits.

Manny, Moe and Shemp

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/00.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

750 mm, 1/1600 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1100 (Auto)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Not that turtles have always been a favorite critter, but since I took a photo of one in the park and noticed the skin pattern, I've been looking forward to to getting a good close up of one.  This may, or may not, qualify as a close up, but its what I have going for me.  Almost looks like tattooing?

My favorite turtle story comes from the old TV show Night Court.  The character Dan Fielding is hosting his parents in New York, when the parents start telling the story of when Dan was a child his favorite pet was a turtle.  After a few story twists and turns the punch line was that the turtle was actually a painted rock.  I still laugh.

Sunny Day at the Refuge

If there's one place where it is easy to social distance, it's at the Refuge.  It was a nice morning.  Road Trip.
I did three circuits of the nature drive.  The first lap was very cloudy.  The other two laps were perfect sunshine.
I was happy to see Eagles on all three laps.  On the first lap, there was a gaggle (4 to 6) of juveniles grouped together.  What fun.  Looks like they were playing.  That's another post.
On the second lap, I saw the juveniles playing again in the same area, but I have this one skimming the water.  Nice blue reflection.

Juvenile Eagle over Blue Water

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/00.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

450 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 180 (Auto)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I am learning with the monster lens and a subject in motion, I almost have to rethink everything.  Note to self, speed needs to be a lot more than the inverse of focal length.  I was shooting today at 1/1,000 sec which is on the slow side for me.  I need to bump it the other way, ISO be damned.  But this shot was savable.   The other issue I have, and I just need more practice is I leave a lot of lens in the lens.  This was at 300 on the lens, I have a lot more to go.  One of the knocks on the 200-500 is the activation of the extra mm's takes a lot.  I've missed a few quick action shots.  For a static subject and I have time to think about it and move the lens, its all OK.  Practice, practice, practice.
Segue to what I saw on the way out of the park.  The last mile of the drive usually doesn't have much action going on.  At this point, I generally thinking of either taking another lap or departing the area.  There I was, lost in my own little universe when I saw this.

Eagle on the Dead Tree

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/00.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

750 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 560 (Auto)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Great sunlight.  Somewhat close to the road.  No trees in the way.  Make your own luck.  Fortunately there was no one behind me, so I could take my time.  Again, with the bird not in flight I could get a good image.  I was able to stick around until it decided to take flight.  I could have done better.  There are lots of reasons.  First, I wasn't really ready when it took off.  Raising the camera at 750 mm, it ain't easy to find the target quickly.  And coordinate the focus.  just another reason to return, but this was really a great opportunity.  Missed.
But not a total loss.  I didn't try to get much closer and disturb the bird.
But it did take off and I did get a few good shots.

Eagle Take Off

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/00.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

750 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 500 (Auto)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

In a perfect world, I'd have set up a tripod with a gimbal head.  I was lucky, not perfect today.
All in all great day.  With the weather starting to warm up a bit more, maybe we'll see more activity with other birds.

The #Strong Day

Tuesday was quite a day.  Two fly overs.  For someone who has missed a few air shows this year so far, just what the doctor ordered.
First, I have to thank the folks I work with to cover me while I was chasing my lost dreams for 2020 today.  I told them what I was doing, and everyone understood.  People you work with who understand your weak points, priceless.
Enough about them, my day.
I did put in a few hours at the paying job this morning.  Thankfully, no fires.
For #AmericaStrong the Blue Angels were flying a pattern in the Detroit area.  After looking at the maps of the flight path, it looked like the northern most point was just east of Troy - where I used to work.  it's just over an hour away.  Doable.  Road Trip.
It looked like the flight path was using the Beaumont Hospital as a waypoint.  C and I just had to get there.  And find a good place to park.  While practicing social distancing.  No problem.
We arrive in the area about an hour prior to the flyover.  By luck we found a park, just north of the hospital - the Donald Flynn park.  When we got there, not issues finding a parking space.  Seriously, twenty minutes after we arrived, it was packed.  Timing is everything.
People of all shapes and sizes were everywhere.  Most were family groups.  Lots of dogs out for exercise.  Wonderful to see.
I had a decision to make on what equipment to take.  I chose to take the D500 and the monster lens combo.  Not knowing where the flight path was, I wanted the extra reach out to 750 mm.  No good to me leaving it at home.  As it turned out, our location was good enough for 500 mm.
Time to dial in the camera.  Looking for my first formation flying candidates.

Inflight Communications

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

510 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I'm guessing there are lots of flight hours for these two in formation.  Communication is key.  Probably no stunt flying - and I wouldn't want to be close by when they release 'smoke'.
But we were there for the Blue Angels.
We had a general idea in what direction the flight was coming from.  A thrill to see them appear.
Of the baggage I brought to the scene is that all photos need to shoot as close up to the subject as possible to be interesting.  Not so.  There is an interest when the subject is seen a bit further away.  C shot this with her phone.

There is a lot to like about this.  The skies belonged to the Angels for that moment.  Awesome.
At this point, there was no noise, just visual.
When it comes time for me to lose my senses, like vision, fashion, balance and common, I look forward to the time when my caregivers can just wheel me to an air show and I can get that afterburner sound.  Aside, from the TF-39 whine, my next favorite sound.  (Google it.)  But for the day, I'll take the General Electric F404 turbo fan.  When the formation got a bit closer, I could begin to hear them.  Sound of Freedom.  

Blue Angel Bank

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

570 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I don't know what the distance is, but that's as far away as I've ever tried to get a subject.  Not as sharp as I'd like, but hey - this is a hobby for me.  You can tell it is the Angels and I can live with that.
As I was there, thinking, hey these might just fly over us?
Guess what?  Hint:  We had the PERFECT viewing location.

Blue Angels Overhead

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

465 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

This is an optical illusion.  They are flying level.  I, however, am getting ready to fall backwards.  At an airshow, stuff happens in front of you.  In this flyover, the over is overhead.  And the engine noise is going strong at this point.  Totally awesome moment.
The only negative issue of this location for watching was about to rear its head.  The flight path took the aircraft directly between the sun and me.  Directly overhead.  I try not to do that to the camera, you know take a picture of the sun.  Unfiltered.  
And on their way out.

Blue Angels Exit

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

420 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

The flyover was about 40 seconds long.  Well worth the 90 minutes to get there.
And the day wasn't over.
#MichiganStrong
With a little luck we could catch a KC-135 on a Flint Flyover.
The KC-135 is special to me.  The aircraft has been in service longer than me.  By a little bit.  But the aircraft is special to me because it was the first aircraft I worked on in the 80s was I was stationed on the island of Okinawa.  I worked on engines back in the day, the Pratt and Whitney J57 engines, with water injection.  Loud and smokey.  See them miles away.  And durable.  We'd get an engine in for overhaul and some of the T-wheel would be missing.  Yet is would keep flying.  Cold warrior.
Over the years, they've been refitted with more efficient and quieter engines.  Still, one of my planes.
C has never seen one before and today would be a good day to chase one.  
Luck was with us again, we found a great spot where the aircraft passed directly overhead.
I thought we'd be closer and the aircraft is larger and slower so I put the D780 at the other end of the monster lens.  It worked.

KC-135 Duo

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

500 mm, 1/2500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 110 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size FX

Not too exciting, and not the right noise.  But I would have not given this day up for anything.

KC-135 Overhead

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

380 mm, 1/2500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 360 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size FX

I like this shot as you can see all the navigation aids used at night for re-fueling.  Memories.
End of a great day.  I miss the airshows.
Earlier this year I was going to join two of the younger nephews at MCAS Cherry Point for their show.  I was really looking forward to seeing their faces with either delight - or horror at the right time.  And I recently found out that the youngest nephew is a Blue Angels fan, seeing them at the Chicago airshow with my father.  I have some work to do with the kids, and I couldn't be happier.
Thanks to the Blue Angels and the 127th ANG wing at Selfridge ANGB.
#AmericaStrong #MichiganStrong

You can learn a lot by listening

I can learn a lot by listening.    It's just the distance between my ears and brain where the weeds can be thick and tall.
Earlier this week I went the park to get out of the house.  And to see the park Eagles.  
I have a favorite watching spot that is north of the nest, right at a pond's edge.  That gives a lot of clearing to view the nest.  Now the branches around the nest I can't do much with.  
My second best watching spot is west of the nest.  More in the woods.  To get there I follow an animal path.  Into the woods.  Yea, I said it twice, there is a lot of woods in the area.  There is a spot against the pond where there is a small opening to view the nest, and some of the pond.  There is a lot of natural growth, small vegetation that you can see around.  But the stuff gets in the way of a subject around the nest, or on the water.
Usually, I'm nest watching from this point.  But that evening there was a solitary Canadian Goose on the pond.  The goose was in a nice spot, with the sun lighting up its head.  The goose was just sitting on the water.  Behind, some small, distracting water plants.  In one way, some of the plants were framing the shot.  And of course, the rest were in the way.  And the goose wouldn't move.  In my world, it's all coming together very nicely.
The goose had to move.  Eventually.  I think it is a law of nature.  And laws will eventually be followed.  And this one was followed, after about ten minutes.
So the goose started to move around, and making goose noises.  Drew my attention to the goose.

Canadian Goose Calling

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

750 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1400 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Rookie mistake.  While I was focused on this subject, its mate was flying in.  Would have been a lot more interesting.  So lesson number one for the evening, in the books.  And we'll find out if the lesson was remembered.  If you know me, you know the answer already.
So, the dual goose adventure continued.  And the previous law of animal motion took flight.  Literally.  Not a good view for the camera, but the sight to the coordinated take was fun to watch.  A few minutes later, they returned.  Heard them thirty seconds away.  Still missed the shot.  Tried to get in too tight on the scene, couldn't find them in the view.  When I did, too late.  More lessons learned.  It's OK, all about the journey, right.  PPPFFFTTT>.
Still no action at the nest.
Time to move.  From the north spot, the sun was still lighting up the nest.  I was there for a while, and almost on schedule one of the Eagles showed up.  Sitting high above the nest.  In the sun.  Awesome sunlit white hood.

Eagle Calling

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

750 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I return now to the lesson of the day.  Again with my attention on the wheel making the most noise, the other slipped in to the nest.  DOH!
I will have to enroll myself in more remedial nature photography.  Ha.

The show must go on

This is prime air show time.  I had such plans for 2020.  
Instead of sitting at home, we should be in the stands admiring and cheering our favorite teams.  Blue Angles, Thunderbirds, Snowbirds and Patriots are some of the Jet Demo teams that are somewhat sidelined temporarily grounded.  In my case, no pictures, no travels and no souvenirs.  I miss my friends and family.  Airshows are just plane fun.  (I did not misspell plane.)
As it is tough to keep people down, it may be tougher to keep aviators down.  Recently the Blue Angles and Thunderbirds started a program of saluting the first responders by doing flyovers of major cities and virus hotspots.  Awesome.  Do what you can do.  Salute.
Today, the Geico Skytypers took the skies over NYC to show their support.   Starting at 11:30 AM and flying for an hour, the route started just south of White Plains, flying southwest to Brooklyn, back over the Bronx, out to Hempstead and finishing over Long Island.
Last year while on my southern therapy tour through South Carolina, I did get to see the Geico Skytypers at the Beaufort MCAS air show.  It is unique.
The skytypers are a group of SNJ-21 aircraft, formation flying to 'type' messages in the sky.
The SJN-21 is a variant of the AT6 family.  Sitting side by side of my Reno AT6 racing class aircraft, very tough to tell the difference.  Photographically, I was coming off my first year of photographing the A6s at Reno and I had an idea of what to do to get the right shutter speed.  Right idea, no practice.  Which is probably why these didn't get an earlier post.  But today is not a day to dwell on small details.
Skytyping is formation flying, in a line wingtip to wingtip, where the smoke is released such that letters, or images, are created.
Like this flag image:

To be fair, by the time I saw this, it had been completed for a few minutes and the upper level winds had an effect on the sharpness.
Hopefully, there were messages of thanks and encouragement.  
These are a few of the shot I had taken last year from the air show.

Thanks to Geico and the air crews for the show today.  I'm sure it was great - and hope many were able to see it.

Juvenile Eagle on a branch

Today may not have been the nicest day of the year so far, but it was the nicest weekend day that I haven't had to work.  I did have to work a bit last night, but I can sleep later.
Off to the Refuge again on a couple hours of sleep.  I didn't see a whole lot going on there.  Or I just wasn't wasn't looking in the right places.
I didn't see any Eagles flying in the Refuge, which is almost a first for any one of my trips there.  I'll get to the photo here of a juvenile in the branches.  I did see a pair of adults flying over a farmer's field on the way home.  Fun to watch - no photos.
I know it's early in the season.  other birds are on the way north.  Probably still four weeks away.  And some must be home with the kids.
There are a lot of 'little' birds there.  Just something new for me to capture.  I'll have a post of these new birds I saw, when I figure out what they are.
On to this one.  This looks to be a very young Eagle, maybe only one or two years old.  As it is before the sun gets real high, there is a lot of shadow to deal with.  Without making it look to obvious.
I didn't see this one, it was point out to me by some refuge rookies.  People are so nice out there.  Anyway, there was a brief conversation where they told me they were rookies.  Good start to their career.  

Juvenile Eagle on the Branch

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/200-500mm f/5.6

500 mm, 1/2000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 180 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size FX

Yes, that is a Michigan blue sky.  Awesome.

New Bird - Greater Yellowlegs

May 1, 2020.  Today, some of the Michigan restrictions have been removed, or altered.  This morning, the lawn dude was out to feed the lawn.  It's a step in the right direction.
One of the other openings today was the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge,  One month early.  Sometimes the stars just line up.
Seems the Refuge Eagle's nest along the drive was not used this past year.  And so the drive opened up a month early.  Spoiler alert, I did see some eagles there today, so there is a nest close by somewhere.
Seems to me that over the past two years one of the the things I've found is that most of the nature action is mid to later in the year with nicer weather and in the earlier time of day.  I had to do some work for the paying job today, but I had the afternoon off.  I was at the Refuge from about 3:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon.  So, zero for two.  But the day was nice and warm, sunny and I was not required to stay at the house.  A winner all around.
The Refuge was very crowded today.  Lots of nature lovers spreading their own wings today.
I like going early mornings to the Refuge because the lack of cars allows the critters to do their own thing.  I get my best action shots.
One thing I noticed about the Refuge this year is that it gave a new meaning to the term wetlands.  Place was completely flooded out, in a managed sort of way.  All the construction last year was said to be to hold water longer.  We'll see in a few months, but there was a lot of water there today.  And it looked like there were Beaver dens everywhere.  Not that I'm an expert and can always tell the difference between a beaver and woodchuck, but I have seen beaver dens and these collection of sticks could be it.  But usually when I've seen these before, the dam is not far away.  Here, no dam in sight.  Dam not needed, lots of man made water.
On the way in, just past the entrance, I saw a bird that I'd never seen at the Refuge before.  Or ever seen before for that matter.  OK, I need to get out more.
So part of the real fun of this was to try to find out what bird this is, or at least narrow it down.  There is a web site that list all the days bird sightings.  That's a good place to start, but it is a slow search as I'm not sure what many of the birds are.  Search plan B is to just do a internet search.  Michigan bird, long bill, yellow legs.  First picture, BINGO!  But that was the first part, still had to find the name.  And I didn't believe the name at all.  More checking.  And then to find out there are Lessers and Greaters.  Too funny.  In the end, the best I have is this is a Greater Yellowleg.  Today I have learned.  Or close to it.

Greater Yellowlegs

NIKON D780 Ver.01.00 /200-500mm f/5.6E

260 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 250 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size FX

Greater Yellowlegs

NIKON D780 Ver.01.00 /200-500mm f/5.6E

500 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 250 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size FX

One thing I did learn today is I need a lot more practice with the monster lens.  These 'close ups' came out OK, but at a distance many shots did not come out as well as I strive to get.  
Hope to get more practice this weekend.

Eagle Through the Trees

I'd like to think I know what I'm doing.  Or sometimes have a little more luck than I'm entitled.  The truth is often somewhere in between.
First, the restrictions on Michiganders have been reduced.  I can go out and about, solo.  And that is a good start.  And this evening was a nice one.  Perfect time for a few breaths of fresh air with the Park Eagle family.
And this evening was a good time.  While waiting for the Eagles to do something, anything, my little area was visited by a wood pecker.  How neat.  And I saw a muskrat swimming less than 10 feet away from me.  I was blending with Nature.  
It was so nice and quiet.  One small duck flew past me so close I could hear the wings flapping.  Serious.  And later in the story, the Eagle flew close to overhead of me, I could hear its wings as well.
To the Eagle chapter.
I was in my watching spot for about 45 minutes tonight.  As to the primary action, the Eagle first showed up from somewhere I didn't expect.  Usually the Eagles approach the nest from above, or higher than the nest.  The tend to land, like an airplane, coming down.  Not this evening.  The approach was from below the nest.  This approach came from out of the lower trees.  No time for camera, but very cool to see.  I'm guessing that this was the shift egg sitter doing some close by wing stretching.  Usually where there are two Eagles in the nest area, one usually leaves and sits close by.  In this case, after the Eagle arrived, I never saw it in the nest.  Optical lines.  I've also noticed that the Eagles usually don't leave the nest in a quick manor.  They will stand on the edge of the nest, look around, test the wind and go.  And this evening, that was not the case.  One move out of the nest and it was coming in my direction.  I was lucky to get that 6 pounds of glass pointed in the right direction.
I did get a few good shots, more than I missed.  But this one is the winner for me this evening.  Not because of the subject, but because....   Going back tot he beginning, I'd like to think I know what I'm doing.
I usually shoot with single point auto focus.  Today, was a bit different.  Tonight I was using Dynamic Area AF 9 points.  All cameras have some form of this.  So, I had a good lock on the Eagle out of the nest.  The D780 and monster lens locked on FAST.  And the AF worked fine, even with this tree trying to photo bomb the picture.  Focus Tracking with Lock On.  Sure, I left the defaults in, but it worked.  The AF kept the lock through the tree.
This is awesome.

Eagle Through the Trees

NIKON D780 Ver.01.00/200-500mm f/5.6E

270 mm, 1/1,000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 180 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size FX

For the things I didn't do right, I left a lot of lens in the bag.  This is aggressively cropped.  The the D780 could handle it.  Looks great on the monitor.  Eye is sharp.  Miracle shot?  Or lucky?  Or somewhere in between?

Pelican on Nav Aid 5 (2009)

While looking at old posts, one that stirred a few memories was from 2010, Birds on a Piling.  The photo is from a trip we took to the Carolina in August of 2009.  During the trip, we spent a day around Fort Fisher.  Which included a car ferry ride between the starting point and destination.  Which is short for all I know is a boat was involved.
If I recall, the ferry ride was about 45 minutes, with 30 minutes out of the car.  Lots of interesting 'subjects' along the way.
Some of these photos are fun to revisit.  The camera was a D80 and a kit lens.  Great for vacation photography.  It's interesting to look at the 'quality' of the shot compared to the sensors of today.
The D80 is a 10 MP versus the D500 21 MP.  10 MP and a kit lens.  Someone say resolution?
I always hear that no matter the equipment, a good photographer is a good photographer.  I'm going with that is true.  But in the 2008, 2009 years I was anything but good.  
In the 2020s however, the software can help.

Pelican on Nav Aid #5

NIKON D80/18.0-135.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

95 mm, 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100

Apparently this was shot in AUTO mode.  Was I ever that young?  Ha.
#itsaboutthejourney

Real Blast from the Past - CSX Car

The original post:  CSX Car.
Date of the post?  February 15, 2011.  Date of the photograph?  August 14, 2008.
I was just a child.  
Camera?  D80.  Lens?  Some kit lens.  Major software?  Elements and Photomatix.  Philosophy?  Luck.  I had a Nikon and I was on a roll.
As this is a blog of my photographic journey, my self imposed rules forbid me to delete any post.  The paying job will keep me up late tonight - way into the hours of Sunday morning.  So to pass some time, drifted back through the early day of the blog.  The cameras, the processing and stuff I was proud to post.

FYI - This image was added by a link to somewhere deep in Google.  Not sure if I'm impressed or scared.
Fortunately, I was shooting RAW at this time.  The fact I was shooting RAW should not be inferred to that I knew what I was doing at the time.  This may not be far from the truth that I didn't like what the JPG output looked like.  So it was RAW.  There was a time when I bounced back and forth between RAW and JPG.  Lucky for me, at this time I was shooting RAW.  This allows me to revisit the file.
This photo does have meaning for me.  I thought it was just another travel photo.  In the early days, my (over) use of HDR was not a favorite of the photo club.  I get it.  One, I was doing it way overboard.  Two, it was new and different.  But one of the club elders told me this was the best photo I submitted, based on subject.  He wasn't a fan of the post processing as much although this shot didn't offend him as most of my efforts had.  That meant a lot to me.  
The photo was clearly put through Photomatix.  My photo processing history system was in its infancy in those days, like all I have is the RAW file and the finished JPG.  Space must have been at a premium.  Now, I have JPGs of just about all the steps that are not in the PSD file.  
This photo was taken while we were on the Covered Bridge Tour, which is a layout of the covered bridges in Somerset County.  Looking at all the photos, I could tell my abilities at the time were suspect at best.  Seriously, every photo has a blown sky.  Every one.  HDR saved this sky.  Seriously, every photo.
So, can today's software save yesteryear's errors?  
I didn't want to use HDR on this one, because it's not in my normal workflow these days.  These days, it is mostly PS with some assists to Topaz DeNoise and Sharpen.  If I wanted to take this project any father than the blog, I'd replace the sky.  But for this exercise, I was able to get some definition out of the file.  And I'll crop most of the sky out.

CSX Engine - 2008

NIKON D80/18.0-135.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

75 mm, 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 125

The rail bed is much easier on the eyes.
This was fun.  The journey - Defined.

Two at the Eagle's Nest

This is one stray branch away from being an absolutely awesome photograph.
This is from Friday afternoon.  I'm getting a lot of work on adding some light to the shadows.  The sun was giving off good light, but at a 90 degree angle.
The bird was coming in for a landing, and the wings were used to slow down the action.  Nice soft landing.  Big wings.  And big wings blocking the light on the bird's head.  And a branch in the way.
I'm getting pretty good at removing objects, but won't try with this branch.  Too much of the Eagle's eye would be slightly altered and I'd have to re-build a lot of it.  So, its a 99% er.  I'll just have to go back some evening to get the last 1%.
In this light the shadows are pretty stark.  I had to add some artificial light n a few places.  It's all part of the journey.

Two in the Nest

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

615 MM, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

There is a pretty aggressive crop here.  And it still passes the screen saver test.

Picking up from 2019 - Eagle Watching

While it is still legal to leave the house, but socially frowned on, I took off for the park for about 45 minutes after work today.  Last year I'd spend the 6:00 hour at my Eagle watch spot.  Today, I did the same.  Took the D500 and 200-500 combo.  Max reach.
At around 6:20, I saw one Eagle to the north circling around.  Sure enough the Eagle was on approach.  Approaching from the north is not the best angle for me, but I'll work with it.  From what I can tell, it was bringing in fresh straw, no critters for dinner.  Constant nest upkeep.
This isn't easy, but it is nice when the weather cooperates.  And my watching area is way off the people path.  Social distancing easily enforced,
There is a disk golf course on one side of the nest.  Last year, people would yell, play music and generally have a good time around the nest.  The Park Eagles keep coming back.  I keep playing that in contrast of the Nature preserve that limits the drive through the area due to the Eagle's nest there to a few months a year.  I get it, the Preserve does what it does, and I support it.  Anyway, the Park Eagles seem to be doing well.
I missed a number of shots this evening.  My stand is surrounded by a lot of brush.  There is a limited shooting area.  And in front of the nest, and a lot of the perch branches.  In the end, there are probably better places.  But not in this area, that I know of.  I missed a number of shots, more than usual.  The culprit?  Well, me of course.  But I had two contributing factors.  The first is the weight of the monster lens.  My shutter speed is fast enough to overcome lens shudder.  But when that happens, the view through the lens is too shaky for me.  That's just funny.  The other culprit is the AF mode I was using.  I need to get a smaller focus point.  I've been using the group setting, and it should be single.  Too many branches for a wider AF focus area.  When I got the lock right, all worked as advertised.  And the learn - I need to get a tri-pod system for this.  Preferably with a gimbal head.  Yea, it would have limited some of the shots, but the shots in front of me may have a better hit rate.  But it is early in the Eagle watching season.  The current climate will make it more difficult to get out every day, we'll just have to see how it goes from here.
I think I have five or six keepers out of 30 or so that were technically correct.  I think I had 90 shots, with 40 or so of the Eagles.  It was a good outing.
Two of the best in my opinion.
In this shot, the Eagle had left the nest padding and was promptly dismissed by the egg sitter.  The Eagle flew over to a close branch.  I had to move a bit, as a branch was between the lens and subject.  And it was enough.  This is the Eagle taking flight from the branch.  The sun is just about 90 degrees at this time.  There was some lighting of the shadows.

Eagle Jump Flight

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

750 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 320 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

All I could think of after this was, OMG, I didn't &^$ this up!
This next shots is a few seconds later when the glide has been established.  I have a sequence of these that stayed in focus.  (Clearly a mistake somewhere?) This has the best sunlight.

Eagle Sunlight Glide

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

750 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 320 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I like the wing tips and the light in the tail feathers.  The branches are OK, especially with a solid blue sky.  
There was very little cropping in both images.  The monster lens did what it was supposed to do.

Thunderbird Center Cross

It is an odd time.  No new photos come in.  The closest to new photos I'll get might be some Eagle shots from the park.  If the weather will cooperate.  Eventually I'll have to come up with something other than 'old stuff'.
But if the 'old stuff' keeps coming along, who am I to not take it?  
Between looking out of the home office windows and seeing who is not walking around, I revisited this shot.  
This shot is from Reno last September.  Location at the show is everything.  I found that out while at the Traverse City air show earlier in 2019.  Not that the TC air show was bad, far from it.  But in Reno, our seats are very good.  Highest in the stands, start/finish line.  Show center.  Not so much for the TC air show.  
Seriously best shots.  Like this T-Bird formation post.  In that formation, the flight came right at us.  In other formations that follow the runway, all crossing action happens right in front of you.  (If they hit their marks.)
This is almost perfect.  I'd like them both back a few feet, but I'll take it.  For the math, read here.

Thunderbird Center Cross

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

450 mm, 1/2500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 (AUTO)

Manual Mode, Size DX

What's interesting about these high speed crossing shots is that even without a camera stuck to the middle of one's face, this instant is gone so quickly.  It's all the missed shots in this sequence, and I remember them all, that help make this special to me.
In another interesting angle to this shot, this required very little cropping.  Almost just enough to center it.  When I try to zoom in as much as I can, I have a low percentage of hits.  And the longer the focal length, the more susceptible to blur the shot is.  And this shot is no different.  But in this pass, my panning with the aircraft in the foreground helped.  Even with the good luck on the shot with my usual post processing workflow the image was sharp enough for posting, but on the screen saver end didn't look as good as it should have.  For most shots, I crop to 1920x1080.  And the resolution is OK.  But on this shot, that format didn't show well.  I had to crop to a 16:9 format.  The end file was about 4X larger.  But on the screen saver, the details really poped out,  Rivets.