Bill Silliker, Jr.

The Camera Hunter

EAGLE

     Those who want to photograph bald eagles in the wild need to do so with extreme caution.   The bald eagle is presently considered a threatened species.   This bird is protected by state and federal laws that carry severe penalties for anyone who harms or harasses one, including by too close an approach.   

     Past human activities, including the liberal spraying of DDT that built up in fish, the destruction of nesting and foraging habitats and the outright killing of these majestic birds by unthinking or uncaring persons caused the national bird numbers to plummet.   Without some action to reverse the trend we might well have had to change the bird on the great seal of the United States to the wild turkey that Ben Franklin wanted there to begin with.   While some might argue the merits of that, I'll just say that the sight of a bald eagle flying our Down East coast or along the Kennebec or the Penobscot - sometimes deep in the Maine Woods - always gets my heart pounding!   It's part of what makes Maine so special.  

     My First Rule of Wildlife Photography says that no telephoto lens exists that can offset a lack of technique in getting close to the critters.   But you see, it's against the law to approach close enough to a nest site for photographs you'd be happy with, even with the 700mm fire power I can muster if I have enough light.  

     Since nest sites were out, I decided to look for feeding eagles.   Reading told me that bald eagles feed more than 50% off of fish.   That gave me lots of territory to cover - too much for productive camera hunting.   As much of wildlife photography involves waiting in the wrong place to begin with, you need to better the odds of finding your subject. 

     Since overwintering bald eagles - those birds that stick it out up here with the rest of us - need open water to catch fish, I figured that the best time to camera hunt for close-ups of this species might be during the cold of the Maine winter.   I learned that some of the best places to look for eagles was downstream from dams that keep water open for limited stretches when it's really cold.   Dams also chew up some fish for easy pickings for the birds.   With less places to fish, the birds would be concentrated.   And that would tip the odds to my advantage.  

     I sought and found such a place not far from Bangor, just below the Veazie dam.   I obtained permission to set up a blind - an essential not to scare off the birds.    Once I had my spot, it still wasn't so easy.   I had to be in the blind before dawn when the eagles came down river to perch in tall white pines across the way.   Then I had to wait until they moved on, sometimes watching them for hours without one ever coming close enough to make it worth firing a single frame of photography. 

     Remember that it's vital not to harass these birds.   During the winter, wildlife needs to maintain energy reserves for survival.   Wasted effort fleeing human encounters can mean death for a bald eagle, just as energy wasted running from a non-caring snow-sledder can kill a whitetail.   Anyone pursuing wildlife photography in the Maine winter should respect the survival needs of their subjects. 

     They should also know something about cameras and the cold.   A Nicad battery in the camera or a separate battery pack or spares in a warm pocket are essential to keep a modern camera operating when it's below zero.   Film should be rewound slowly, preferably by hand, to prevent tearing the brittle stuff or the possibility that static electric sparks will imprint on the film.   It's also vitally important not to breathe into the camera when you change film or lenses. 

     And never bring a frozen camera directly into a warm place.   While one trick is to seal the camera in a plastic bag that will keep damaging condensation moisture on the outside of the bag, I prefer to also warm my cameras very gradually after such a day.    

     So anyway, there I'd be waiting in a makeshift blind in the pre-dawn wondering in minus 20 degree cold why in the hell I was doing it.   I still had to have an eagle come close enough to get the shot that I wanted.   To do that, I had to find a way to sit still for hours in all of that cold. 

     How long can you sit in 20 below zero without moving?   And what about bodily functions?   I don't know about you, but coffee gets me going in the morning - in more ways than one.   So I learned how to dress: layers and layers of synthetic long underwear and wool and windbreakers; heavy wool mittens over wool fingertip-less gloves over thinner synthetic gloves, with chemical hand warmers as a backup; layers of socks in large enough insulated boots with chemical foot warmers.   The foot problem was the worst: because I sat on a stool, the rest of me was not in ground contact.   And that ground was cold!   A thick carpet remnant on the frozen ground works wonders. 

     High-energy food snacks, such as chocolate, peanuts and raisins, helped keep my metabolism going.   And a bodily function relief jug, plus foregoing coffee until I left the blind, was essential.   A thermos of hot chocolate was much better.   Again, it all goes back to knowing yourself.

     My reward came when after days of planning and waiting and hoping, this bird flew over and sat in the right place for all of fifteen seconds.   Because I expected it and knew how to use my equipment, but mostly because I was able to stand all of that cold, I got the image that I wanted. 

     Catch yours in the good light.

Bill Silliker, Jr. teaches wildlife & nature photography for L.L. Bean's Outdoor Discovery Schools and has done the photography for 5 books, several of which he also wrote. He is editor of the website www.wildlifewatcher.com as well as for his own website at www.camerahunter.com

© Copyright 2000 Bill Silliker, Jr. all rights reserved.