Some Deer, an Eagle, and Abby

[danc]

Having the day off today, I took advantage of the crisp afternoon and went for a drive to an island which is on the waterfront here in Thunder Bay. The island is quite big and it is home to several industrial sites. But there are acres and acres of undeveloped land as well. The Deer population has exploded there and since it's within the city limits, there is no hunting allowed. Although these are wild Deer, they are very used to people and you can get quite close to them. I was within 10 feet of a few of them today. Here's what I got.

 

These two bucks were sparring, something that I've never seen before.

 

 

Turns out they were just having a little fun and were probably best friends.

 

 

Some of the older bucks are a little camera shy and head for the woods when approached.

 

 

But the young Deer are very curious, and probably looking for a handout as well.

 

 

 

 

I was lucky enough to come across a rare sight today as well. A Golden Eagle flew by but was out of camera range. I attempted to follow the bird around on the few roads that are on the island and was lucky enough to find it in a tree right beside the road. Goldens are absolutely huge. I'm guessing that they are about 30% larger than a full grown Bald Eagle. Anyways, I got a shot of it in a tree and a shot when it flew.

 

 

 

And of course I took Abby for a ride today. She had fun watching all the Deer from inside the truck. I took her down a dead end road and let her out for a run. She had a blast.

 

 

Happy New Year everyone!!!

[brandon]

Great pics Dan.....That Eagle looks like an immature bald and not a Golden.....that's based on the mottled appearance of it. most of the goldens i've seen have been pretty well solid brown, whereas bald eagles take 4-5 years to get their white head and tail....regardless theyre some beauty pics

[danc]

You could be right Brandon. I'm not an Eagle expert by any stretch of the imagination. My opinion was based on the size of this bird. Balds are a dime a dozen up here and I've seen plenty of mature Balds. This bird dwarfed any Bald that I've ever seen. I could be wrong though. Perhaps it was a young Bald. I'm sure that I've seen my share of Goldens in years past and it's the sheer size of them that first impresses me first.

 

Thanks for the comments Brandon.

[brandon]

The thing i've found with juvie balds is they always look bigger than the adults and from what i've learned it's due to their down feathers which are apparently more fluffy in the younger birds giving them a bigger appearance.....but again, nice pics....i love the deer ones

[fishindevil]

Amazing pics dan !!! that eagle looks soooo,nice....thanks for sharing,man you sure have alot of wildlife your way,i have heard deer fighting before in the bush,but i have never seen it up close like you have !!!...cheers

[smallfry]

Awesome pics and thanks for sharing. Love the pic of the bucks. As for the eagle one way to tell the difference between a bald and golden is eye colour. Golden's have brown eyes and Bald's have yellow eyes, also the legs on a Golden are fully feathered where as a bald feathers sort of stops above the ankle(if they had ankles). This past season at work we had a Golden and I believe they are nesting not far from camp, must investigate this year as our CO was pretty interested. Anyhow it's hard to tell from the pick what colour the eyes are but they do look more brown than yellow.

[danc]

I did some research yesterday and asked some friends from a photography message forum what they thought. These guys live for photographing birds. Brandon is correct. It is a juvenile Bald Eagle. A two year old juvi Bald in fact. That's how good these guys are.

 

Thanks for the comments guys..