Eagle En Route . . .

. . . it’s a Seattle thing.

First alert — a look overhead and warning calls:

Male American Wigeon - ©ingridtaylar

Wigeon Call - ©ingridtaylar

American Wigeon first responders leave lone Eurasian Wigeon to contemplate his next move:

Eurasian Wigeon Among Americans - ©ingridtaylar

And he’s off:

Eurasian Wigeon Takeoff - ©ingridtaylar

Safety in numbers:

Flock Fight - ©ingridtaylar

Male & Female Wigeon in Flight - ©ingridtaylar

The instigator comes into view:

Juvenile Bald Eagle - ©ingridtaylar

The juvenile Bald Eagle shows little interest in the ducks, catches the thermals, and whirls up over the trees. The wigeon flock comes back five minutes later, only to repeat the above steps when the juvie Bald Eagle decides to make a return pass.

Second Verse, Same as the First - ©ingridtaylar

At the end of the evening, sun waning, all wigeon safe, accounted for, and preening in the pond. I’ve come to know this flock since they arrived here in Seattle in the fall, so you could say I have some attachment to the outcome.

Related posts: The Enculturation of Wigeons | Wigeon Report

The Photos: Taken with my Olympus E-3, most of the in-flight images were shot at ISO1000 on a dark afternoon, just following a brief snow shower. The sun was obscured by thick weather, shooting rays of daylight for seconds at a time between cloud breaks. On the flock flight shots, I would have liked a smaller aperture to get more of the birds in focus. But with my aperture wide open, I was still getting just 1/640 in terms of shutter speed. Rather than crank the ISO up even farther, I opted to go with what I had.