As I was waiting in the vicinity of where I had seen a particular eagle family, I was thinking I had managed to capture the male adult and the two (female) youngsters in photos. I had seen the female adult on a few occasions either flying into a tree where her partner was or just in fly-bys over the tree where the male was perched but had never had any opportunity to photograph her.
Then eventually a Merlin flew into that tree, briefly perched and flew off to a neighbouring one. So I got up, walked the few feet to the tree where the Merlin had perched but the little falcon had already left.
Returning to my viewing area, I looked up again at the thick tree limb where the eagles liked to perch, not expecting anything and there stretched along the branch was the female parent. It was a bit of a shock as I had been gone under two minutes but that probably was why the little Merlin had flown off to make way for the apex predator. So I resumed my reclining position against a log to make the most of the opportunity. (I don't shoot with a tripod or monopod.)
The size and bulk were key in identifying her. Although I do not have a side by side comparison, just viewing the photos of the male, this eagle was much bigger & somehow with more attitude.
Now having both young eagles confident in their flying abilities & probably already trying their skills at fishing, it appeared that "Mum" had a few hours to herself. Her partner did briefly land at the top of the same tree & then flew off. He was greeted with soft chirping before he left but a youngster did fly over the tree and was not greeted with the same enthusiasm. If one was giving human attributes to the eagles, one would like to believe her mate was just checking in with her to see everything was good but her offspring had been warned off as this was definitely "me" time.
It was, indeed, a very relaxed female adult Bald Eagle, spending the next three hours on the same branch, thoroughly grooming and probably giving some much needed attention to her feathers. She did remain vigilant, checking out any unusual noise or disturbance from the river below but she appeared to be enjoying her alone time.
And then late afternoon, she flew off downstream, I assume to fish or meet up with her mate.
The lighting changes in the photos as a lot can happen with the weather & sky in almost three hours.
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