Chase Is On
The Chase Is On - An adult male Golden Eagle pursues a California Ground Squirrel after missing his initial strike.
I was fortunate to witness an amazing moment of natural history when a Golden Eagle dropped down on this squirrel and actually chased his prey down on foot in an attempt to catch it.
This is the first image of the sequence that I captured of the eagle generating momentum with his wings and lunging at the squirrel. Typically, I see Golden Eagles moving rather awkwardly on land but this individual moved with agility and purpose.
I have been photographing Golden Eagles since 2013 and spent countless hours watching them soar, hunt and rest. At last I managed to document a hunting sequence in the wild last Christmas Eve.
Species: Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) + California Ground Squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi)
Location: San Benito County, CA, USA
Equipment: Nikon D850 + 200-500mm f5.6 ED VR, Handheld
Settings: 1/1600s, ISO: 360, f/5.6, +0.3 EV
Chase Is On
The Chase Is On - An adult male Golden Eagle pursues a California Ground Squirrel after missing his initial strike.
I was fortunate to witness an amazing moment of natural history when a Golden Eagle dropped down on this squirrel and actually chased his prey down on foot in an attempt to catch it.
This is the first image of the sequence that I captured of the eagle generating momentum with his wings and lunging at the squirrel. Typically, I see Golden Eagles moving rather awkwardly on land but this individual moved with agility and purpose.
I have been photographing Golden Eagles since 2013 and spent countless hours watching them soar, hunt and rest. At last I managed to document a hunting sequence in the wild last Christmas Eve.
Species: Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) + California Ground Squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi)
Location: San Benito County, CA, USA
Equipment: Nikon D850 + 200-500mm f5.6 ED VR, Handheld
Settings: 1/1600s, ISO: 360, f/5.6, +0.3 EV