I was shooting a
sizable raft of common eiders
when my camera failed
and told me to remove and replace the battery,
2 times it failed
and then
the screeching started
and SPLASH
right in the middle of the eiders!
He turned himself in the water so he was facing me
and just hung in the water with his wings spread
for about 8 minutes.
My camera kept failing after I would take
just a few shots.
OK, so having been through
enough digital camera failures over the years,
and knowing what was to come with the eagle,
I started timing my shots so I would get the
right ones, especially being the flight shots
of him carrying the duck. I managed quite
a few shots, in between taking the battery
out and putting it back in a bunch of times as
he hung in the water
and then made his struggle to lift his
wet body
and the mallard into the air
and fly to the closest point
where his mate arrived to a perch
above him within a minute's time.
The mate never got to share any of his meal
as she watched him below on the banking
ripping it apart
while crows made hasty grabs at
scattered pieces.
After a while the mate flew down to
the banking about 20 feet away for a
few minutes before flying out across the cove
and he followed carrying the duck
until disappearing around the corner
of the island where they nest.