The Yellowstone River runs through the part of Yellowstone National Park where I stayed. Being from Wisconsin where bald eagles are about as common as robins, I was surprised to see that a bald eagle got as much attention from the park’s tourists as the bears.
I saw both bald and golden eagles during my stay in Yellowstone National Park.
The one disappointment about the over 100 day trip was that I didn’t get a better shot of a golden eagle.
This time of year, May through early July, Eagles stay near their nests to care for their Eaglets. It makes it somewhat easier to get photos of them. This year, however, getting a good shot or even an opportunity at a good shot has proven illusive. With the workweek winding down and the weather looking better this weekend than the past several weekends, hopefully that illusive shot will present itself.
It isn’t for lack of trying or from not being where they are that I haven’t been getting shots. In the shot below an Eagle and an Osprey can be seen working the same patch of lake, but on the other side of the lake from where I was.
That same Eagle then flew across the lake toward its nest, but took the long way, avoiding the spot where I hid.
Not that I’m complaining, because I very much appreciate living in an area of the world where I can see these birds, I’m just trying to impress upon you, my dear followers, that by early July the Eaglets will fledge and then it will be more difficult to get photos of Eagles.
While this nest is one of the easiest to view, the lighting never seems right and with cloudy, rainy conditions when I tried to shoot these photos, I was again disappointed with the lighting.
This Eagle flew in bringing a fish to the young.
She landed on the nest and proceeded to feed her Eaglets.
I counted at least two Eaglets on the nest. Eventually, the other adult Bald Eagle flew in, but with the sun already down and the light fading the shots didn’t turn out very well.
While parked in front of an Eagle’s nest, at sundown, I noticed some geese on a nearby creek. The Eagles weren’t doing much, just sitting on their nest and not really giving me much to shoot, so I took a few photos of the geese. Eventually, I heard these same geese beginning to fuss about something, so I took out my binoculars to scan the area around the geese to see what they were fussing about. With the sun below the horizon, the available ground level light was terrible, but if you folks remember, terrible light never stops me from trying to take a picture. Here’s what the geese were fussing about.
A dozen deer cautiously approached the creek in order drink. The didn’t react well to my attempts to move closer either. As soon as I moved they scattered back into the hills, and deeper down the valley.
And the Eagles sat safely watching from the comfort of their nest.
The Trail 
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