Thursday, March 3, 2011

American Oystercatchers and an eagle - Skywatch Friday


American oystercatcher on an oyster bed. I took this from the car. These birds are very skittish. If I had stopped the car and got out he would have been gone in seconds after I opened the door.


He's like "Hey dude, turn around, she wants to take our picture."


Bald eagle sitting on the causeway light post.


I was crossing the Courtney Campbell Causeway from Tampa into Clearwater on a recent Sunday afternoon and just happened to have my camera in the car. I'm usually on the lookout for osprey on the light posts. There are always a handful across the causeway. I did a double take when I saw the above sitting on the post with cars flying by underneath. When I got to the end of the causeway I turned around and came back on the access road. I was able to snap a couple of pictures before the eagle flew off. Then I noticed the large flock of oystercatchers sitting on the side of the access road and had to take a few pictures of them. I wonder how many other people driving by noticed that was an eagle sitting there. I'm thinking it must be one of the Safety Harbor eagles. I see them at Philippe Park but haven't found their nest yet.

For more skyscape photography from around the world, visit http://skyley.blogspot.com/

8 comments:

  1. Beautiful pictures of the birds. You captured them beautifully.

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  2. Amazing to catch an eagle on a light!

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  3. Such a great shot of the eagle. How lucky are you to be there to take it!!!!

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  4. For being taken from the car, these photos of the oystercatchers came out great! Love the eagle shots. Right place at the right time! ~karen

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  5. wow! these are awesome shots...:) Glad to be here. Hope you can check out my ENTRY too!

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  6. Awesome! I'm always amazed at how many eagles are in urban areas here. Still hoping to see an oystercatcher.

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  7. Great shot of both species. I'd think the eagle might cause a traffic jam or accident, but I guess most drivers are using tunnel vision and didn't even notice it.

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