The Eagle has Landed
Here was the chance to photograph the Scottish icon, the Golden Eagle. I believe that Glen Tanar has the only hide available in the UK to photograph these majestic birds and their young. I have been fortunate to have experienced this over 10 years and cannot express the emotion felt on each occasion. The eagle hide is an evening session and the guide drives you through the estate and onto rough forest tracks. Strap on the kit and the walk is usually an uphill trek through native woodland and heather for 10 to 15 mins. The guide tucks you into the hide and leaves the way he came. Allegedly golden eagles can’t count and don’t know someone has been left in the hide. The hide is located between 50 and 80 metres from the nest and a 400mm lens on a full frame body is sufficient for flight and nest shots. Flight shots are restricted to the bird entering and leaving the nest as the area is normally in dense woodland. My first encounter with these birds has left a lasting impression. I was in the hide by 5:00pm sharing it with about a million midges. Got everything set up and waited in anticipation. For the next two hours the two chicks slept, exercised their wings, ate and pooped!
If you’ve never seen a golden eagle chick poop I’ll leave you to experience the event. You get plenty of time to check your settings, over and over again, a must due to the changing light, while anticipating something will happen. The chicks take on a different demeanour when the adults are in the area and this is the only warning you get.
Suddenly it happens, silently one adult lands, dam it, too quick for me and only manage to get images of the female on the nest with the two chicks. Something, I don't know what, made me move my lens to the left and there was the second adult approaching the nest. I stopped breathing, focused, tracked, fired off about 10 shots and the second adult landed complete with a grouse in its talons. Both adults stayed for about 5 seconds and left. I sat motionless, my heart was pounding in my ears, did that just happen, did I get the shots? I stared at the back of the camera struggling to decide if I ‘chimp’ the shots. I had to, and the result, well look for yourselves. The chicks tucked into the grouse, flapped their wings, pooped again and went to sleep. I stayed for another hour and a half, the adults didn't return and the guide returned and I set off down the slope back to the Land Rover, my heart was still pounding.
On a subsequent visit in 2015 the hide was located in dense forest at the base of a tree about 40 mtrs from the nest slightly below the level of the nest. The chicks were a good size and very active. The adults were equally active coming in several times with hares to feed the chicks. The adults spent a few minutes with the chicks feeding them and tidying up the remains of the previously killed hares that were strewn all over the nest.
One of the adults was obviously perched on a branch above my head probably preparing the hare. I have often heard that the sound of the bird in flight is silent. Not the case on this occasion. The bird left the perch and dropped directly in front of me and rose out, wings outstretched, and landed in the nest. The noise of the wing beating to lift it into the nest, whoomph, whoomph, whoomph and the wings outstretched will be etched into my memory forever.
The best piece of advice I could offer anyone is invest in the best kit you can afford. It really helps if you have the proper equipment and you feel comfortable using it. You also need to be very patient. Sometimes you have to wait for hours for the perfect photograph, but when the moment does arrive it happens quickly, so it’s important be ready. And finally, always respect where you are and the subject you’re photographing.
“Five hours in the hide, five seconds of activity and five good images.”