Faulkner
Member
One of the activities my wife and I enjoy doing together is amateur wildlife photography. Being of a competitive nature, I have to watch myself and make sure I keep it about enjoying the activity together and not a competition to get the best picture. Well, at least I try. Even so, my wife takes awesome pictures.
We recently hiked in early one morning to a small lake on private property to check out a location where there might be an nesting pair of bald eagles. The property owners (friends we go to church with) had called us and gave us a heads up about it, knowing we take wildlife pictures and would be interested. We drove in to about a half mile of the lake, loaded our gear into backpacks, and hiked in on the edge of a tree line to get as close to the area as we could without getting in the open. We had no doubt that regardless of how we approached the nest the eagles would spot us, but we didn't want to be blatantly aggressive in our approach. Once we made it to the edge of the lake, I scanned the area with my binoculars and it didn't take long to find the nest. It was huge, located in the top of a large oak tree.
Unfortunately, there was not a way to get to a spot where we could see the nest from the same side of the lake, so we had to hike back around the end of the lake. I left my wife there and slipped out about a hundred yards into an open field to a spot I could see the nest, which would require us to shoot pictures across the small lake. I'd packed a 8x10 camo tarp in my pack, so I cut about a 3 and a half foot stick from a hickory tree limb, and then I quickly erected a lean-to so we wouldn't have to sit out in the open. Dawn was just now breaking in the east so I went back to the tree line, helped my wife with the gear, and we slipped back to the lean-to and set up under it with the sun to our backs so we could have a good view of the nest.
It was a chilly 45 degree sunrise in the Ozarks, but we were comfy under our lean-to sipping coffee from the thermos, waiting for the sun to come up and see what was in store for us. The eagle's nest was a hundred yards or so across the lake before us.
Finally, about 30 minutes after sun up, we could see some activity on the nest and we began shooting our pictures. It was indeed a nesting pair of bald eagles and they had at least two eaglets in the nest. We had a great time and I am fortunate that my wife of 30+ years and I have opportunities to spend quality time doing something we both enjoy.
I share my pictures regularly so I thought I'd share a few of hers from our grand adventure.
We had a pair of blue-winged teals swim by for a visit.
We also had a Wilson's snipe pop it's head around the lean-to and check us out.
We recently hiked in early one morning to a small lake on private property to check out a location where there might be an nesting pair of bald eagles. The property owners (friends we go to church with) had called us and gave us a heads up about it, knowing we take wildlife pictures and would be interested. We drove in to about a half mile of the lake, loaded our gear into backpacks, and hiked in on the edge of a tree line to get as close to the area as we could without getting in the open. We had no doubt that regardless of how we approached the nest the eagles would spot us, but we didn't want to be blatantly aggressive in our approach. Once we made it to the edge of the lake, I scanned the area with my binoculars and it didn't take long to find the nest. It was huge, located in the top of a large oak tree.
Unfortunately, there was not a way to get to a spot where we could see the nest from the same side of the lake, so we had to hike back around the end of the lake. I left my wife there and slipped out about a hundred yards into an open field to a spot I could see the nest, which would require us to shoot pictures across the small lake. I'd packed a 8x10 camo tarp in my pack, so I cut about a 3 and a half foot stick from a hickory tree limb, and then I quickly erected a lean-to so we wouldn't have to sit out in the open. Dawn was just now breaking in the east so I went back to the tree line, helped my wife with the gear, and we slipped back to the lean-to and set up under it with the sun to our backs so we could have a good view of the nest.
It was a chilly 45 degree sunrise in the Ozarks, but we were comfy under our lean-to sipping coffee from the thermos, waiting for the sun to come up and see what was in store for us. The eagle's nest was a hundred yards or so across the lake before us.
Finally, about 30 minutes after sun up, we could see some activity on the nest and we began shooting our pictures. It was indeed a nesting pair of bald eagles and they had at least two eaglets in the nest. We had a great time and I am fortunate that my wife of 30+ years and I have opportunities to spend quality time doing something we both enjoy.
I share my pictures regularly so I thought I'd share a few of hers from our grand adventure.
We had a pair of blue-winged teals swim by for a visit.
We also had a Wilson's snipe pop it's head around the lean-to and check us out.
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