01Aug-Photo Release – When I first stated following our eagles they nested off the park property on Ranch land to the east. There are several large ranches beyond the park on Arroyo Road. I’m told there are Golden Eagles out that way, but it’s private property and there’s no way out there.😑
Anyway, These maps give you an idea of the location. The first image shows the park’s proximity to Livermore, and it shows how long the lake is too. Note: don’t be fooled by the up and down aspect of the image. The campground is more easterly than southerly.
At the far east end of the park there are campgrounds and an equestrian staging area. The second image shows the campground southeast of the lake. The campground sits on the banks of the Arroyo that feeds the lake. It can get to be a rushing mess in spring. The next image shows the long shot to the nest – 1880 feet away (blue pin). My location is the yellow dot at the other end of the line I’m at the Equestrian staging area where Arroyo road becomes a private road out to the ranches. The last pic is the shorter distance shot from within the campground itself – about 1400 feet. The campground is lower than the nest, so it’s a bit harder to get a good angle. Up by the staging area is too far for my gear especially with a breeze. In short – there was no good place to make images unless you had super gear.
I was using my long lens 600mm with a 1.4 TC for a total length of 850mm. But, with the TC on, I started at f:9. That makes for a very slow shutter speed to expose it properly and so, blur is easy to create. There was just a hint of a breeze, but even on a tripod, it was enough to throw focus off at that distance. I only included one shot (the last one in the set) from the far away perch, so you could see the difference in distance.
01Aug-Photo Release
01Aug-Photo Release
The two babies were just weeks from fledging – I missed it though. I came back and saw them practice flying with ma or pa a few times from far away. These images are not great due to the distance, but you can see the babies pretty well. That nest blew down the next year. They rebuilt in a nearby tree and that one blew down with two babies in it – both lived. They moved closer to the park entrance and have been there for three years now and at least 6 eaglets. It’s a wonderful life…😉😊 Look at the size of that nest. I’m not surprised it came down. That adds up to thousands of pounds especially when it gets wet in the rain, and they add to it every year.
01Aug-Photo Release
Del Valle East August 1, 2021
01Aug-Photo Release
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