articles/Nature/regaleagles-page3

Regal Eagles - part 3 of 1 2 3 4

by Andy Astbury Published 01/04/2009

The temperature inside the hide when we began was around -8°C and you have to be very still and quiet, so plenty of warm layers, hushed whispers of conversation and slow careful movement of equipment are the order of the day. The camera ports all have small observation ports at the side which will soon steam up with condensation - the best way of coping with this is to be somewhat disgusting and spit on the inside of the glass, rather like divers do to their face masks - do this in the dark and it works a treat, the effect lasts all day, and you stand much less chance of being spotted by an eagle than if you are wiping the window with loo-roll every five minutes.

Speaking of the loo...! A portable one is in the entrance to the hide but this separate 'room' is not as well insulated as the main part of the hide and is a LOT colder - okay for 'us chaps' even in the coldest of conditions, but I can't help but think the ladies might find the process a little more...well...shall we say 'challenging

When you are sitting in this wooden box surrounded by the mysterious Nordic semi-darkness and filled with anticipation, that first eagle call certainly grabs your attention I can tell you. If you haven't had a heartattack the next thing you may hear is the slow 'whooshing' of an eagle's wings as it slowly quarters the airspace over the hide just feet above the roof - crikey it's exciting 'stuff'!

And then 'The Business' - a monstrous female golden eagle drops onto the small knoll less than 40 feet in front of you - heart stopping stuff!

You have to fight the temptation to unleash the D3 - machine-gunning this lady will just result in her vacating the area at a great rate of knots.

Just observing her for a moment through a 600mm focal length you are aware that this is the most powerful bird in the northern hemisphere at least with the ability to kill a reindeer should the fancy take her.

She plays with the road-kill fox which has been laid out in the snow for the eagles to feed on but then she spots a white ptarmigan bait laid on a fallen pine log to her left - with one bound of her massive legs she's on it and begins to pluck it with a surprise amount of delicacy and finesse - now she's pre-occupied the D3 can be given some slack and a few frames taken just to see if she notices the noise.

Once an eagle is settled on the food items, they are very tolerant of the camera noise and a switch to your fastest frame rate is a really good idea. Especially in falling snow or even a slight breeze the nictitating membrane is constantly wiping across the bird's eyes - in other words they blink a lot - if you sit there in single-frame mode most likely you will have some very good shots ruined by this, so it pays to shoot fast and shoot a lot.

Seeing as the snow was copious on the ground subject brightness ranges can be problematic, especially when the sun shines - but switching the D3 to 14-bit RAW stood me in very good stead, delivering me nearly 10,000 images without a single blown highlight to speak of.

• Regal Eagles page 1
  
• Regal Eagles page 2
  
• Regal Eagles page 3
  
• Regal Eagles page 4
  

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