Alabama Bald Eagles - Lake Purdy & Guntersville Update

On the advice of fellow poster Joe Boyd, I chose to go to the

Guntersville Dam (North Alabama Birding Trail Site #37) instead of

Waterloo (Site #11 or 12 I think) site described more fully in this

thread:

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00FAtS&tag=

 

The trip was worth it despite the poor weather. I'm not terribly

satisfied with the shots, but the Bald Eagle did spend some time on

the dead tree while I was there, and many a shutter did clack. If

you live in the area I highly recommend a trip up there in the next

few weeks, I know I will go back when the weather improves.

 

Ironically, one my way home I took a detour to avoid the I-459/US-

280 interchange which was, in my mind, designed by a snake, and

discovered a Bald Eagle not five miles from my apartment. I plan on

going back an renting a canoe to see if there is a nest somewhere on

the shore of Lake Purdy, but if you are interested in checking for

yourself, I saw it where AL-119 crosses Lake Purdy, before the

bridge (coming from US-280) on a dead tree on the south side of the

road.

 

This map, which shows the entrance to a major neighborhood down the

road from the bridge might help: http://maps.google.com/maps?

hl=en&q=Legacy+Dr+%26+Cahaba+Valley+Rd,+Birmingham,+AL+35242

 

If you look at the map, at the center of the map where Cahaba Valley

Rd crosses the lake, the tree is located on the water to the right

of the road, on the part of land jutting out after the first cove on

the bottom next to the road. Sorry for the cryptic directions. I

have attached an image of the Lake Purdy location.

 

Lessons learned: Don't buy cheap mirror lenses on EBay (cannot get

even partial focus) and always keep your eyes open, you never know

what you'll see along the road.<div></div>

Sorry, map link got cut off. Copy paste and remove the space.

Hi Joshua, you and Joe Boyd have spurred me to return to Lake Guntersville this Friday. Any chance you are going back then? I went twice in the Mid-90's, once when my twins were less than a year old. Both times, I found the eagles to be quite distant (I.e., across a valley). The one you and Joe mention is intriguing.

 

Anyway, can you give me more details? What focal length lens did you use for the shot you posted? What can you get with effective full frame focal lengths from 480-960 mm? Was there more than one eagle hanging out at the dam? Any details you can provide would be helpful.

 

Thanks, Larry

Larry,

 

The eagles are located right off the road on the north side of Guntersville Dam.

 

The snag tree is located somewhere near (34.4303 -86.3965):

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=34.4303+-86.3965&ll=34.430302,-86.396495&spn=0.006177,0.013475

 

The nest is located somewhere near (34.4310 -86.3954):

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=34.4310+-86.3954&ll=34.431001,-86.395401&spn=0.006177,0.013475

 

The coordinates are estimates based on the google map, and may not be accurate. Basically, follow US-431 through Guntersville (towards Huntsville) until you reach the road to the dam (Guntersville Dam Road) which is labelled with a TVA sign, and follow it until you can see the dam, and turn onto Painted Bluff Rd. The nest is located on the small side road, and the snag tree is a few hundred feet from the parking spaces at a curve in the road. Look for muddy tracks and photographers and you won't miss it.

 

I personally won't be there Friday, I have class until 3 and the drive from Birmingham would leave me there in darkness. If the weather ends up being good I might go over the weekend, but it looks like rain again.<div></div>

I was using a 70-300mm (at 300mm) on my Digital Rebel XT (so 480mm) at a distance of 200-400ft from the base of the tree, so probably a tad more to the eagle. I tried out a cheapo mirror lens (500 or 1000mm on 35, 800 or 1600mm on DigiReb) and the eagle was huge at both focal lengths, as in full frame coverage, but I couldn't get the stupid thing to come into focus at any distance over 50ft.

You can see photos from both sites, albeit not very good ones (underexposed, purple fringing and softness, too far away in one) on my website...

 

http://www.szulecki.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14

Thanks, Joshua. That's a big help. Now I just have to wish for good weather.

Larry,

 

I expect that you may not have made it to Lake Guntersville this weekend, as the weather is ice and slush. I'm still trying to get back from early February. Weather next weekend sounds like it might be better. You'll have plenty of company on a decent weekend. There were up to a dozen watchers and photographers in early Feb.

 

The shot I posted in the other thread (http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00FAtS&tag=) was with a 600/4, 1.4 converter, on a 1.5x sensor. Hadn't done the math recently, but it's roughly 1200mm.

 

There were a breeding pair with two chicks in the nest. The breeding pair will probably be on the nest well into March. The checks hadn't fledged yet, and they'll probably be around the nest into April. It's easy to get to about 75' of the base of the snag without harassing the eagles in the snag (i.e. they'll land and sit in the snag even if you're 75' from it). This is a good distance, because much closer and you start shooting up through their claws. The more intersting shots are when they're flying around. There are also some immature eagles in the area. Seeing the breeding pair defend their nest if the immatures get too close (1/2 mi.) is worth watching for.<div></div>

Hi Joe, you are right: I did not make it to Lake Guntersville Friday. I was off work and needed a photography fix. But the ice and my getting over a cold deterred me. I will try to get there before the end of March when the breeding pair leave. But I had hoped to go on a Friday without the crowds.

 

As it turns out, though, I am very happy I did not go. On Friday, I went to Zoo Atlanta and got a truly once in a lifetime shot of a gorilla mother and her very rare twins. She's 'kissing' one and cuddling the other. Go to my recent thread about selling a photo to a zoo. I have an early, unprocessed copy of the photo there. Unless I was really lucky, I would not have gotten anything as good from the eagles. Thanks again for the info. Larry

Hi guys,

 

I grew up in Guntersville and saw many a bald eagles soar over my home during migration. I've been away from g'ville for a long long time but wanted to go back and capture some eagles. Where is the best place that you've seen them? I know of one nest in the state park but that's it.

 

(they used to soar over our home every year but due to development, they've chosen different routes).

Larry,

 

I got to the Atlanta Zoo a bunch, there is a bird show they do on the weekends. Since it's not crowded right now, they are gracious enough to let to give you mucho bird shots. Nice guys

 

Here is mine from the zoo

<img src="http://static.flickr.com/41/87045482_3a48e71de6.jpg">

Scott,

 

The nest near Guntersville Dam (described in Joshua's original post) is the most accessible nest I've seen around Guntersville. Here's some other images from the pair at the Dam by Muril Robertson of Huntsville (http://www.nikoncafe.com/vforums/showthread.php?t=63595&highlight=guntersville)

 

Joe

I was at the dam all day today, and while the eagles did not visit the snag tree the whole time I was there, the day was not wasted. There was a minor territorial struggle between one of the adults and a juvenile near the nest, and the male(?) flew over a number of times as well. Apparently the nest now holds only one eaglet, down from the two I was told about last time.

 

On a side note, now would be a great time to visit Guntersville Dam (North Alabama Birding Trail site #37) even without the eagles. There were no less than fifty vultures in the area, mostly circling in a vulture vortex on the south side of the dam where the power lines cross. There currently is a fairly decent range of brid species in the area, I saw bluebirds, bluejays, woodpeckers, small yellow things, a high flying GBH as well as ground-based GBH, and various and sundry other passers-by. I also saw about twenty turtles, some dogs, and a fox. If you are in the area and the weather is nice, check it out.

Some pictures from today:

http://www.szulecki.com/photos/gdam/

Joshua, your new pictures are great, especially of the downy woodpecker. I thought again about going today, but the weather here in Atlanta stinks. I won't bother looking it up for Guntersville, because if it's nice, I'll just kick myself.

Larry, it is going to be really nice in Guntersville tomorrow. If I didn't have something to write by Monday, that's where I would be. Only problem is that I got a sunburn on Friday...