Hello Eagle Friends,
It's hard to believe we woke up to snow again, but we did. Then it rained, sprinkled, rained a little more, and then the dark skies hung low, barely above the valley. It was 34 degrees when I arrived.
All night I woke up every hour on the hour thinking I'd overslept to get Em off to school. In fact, my entire day started out all wrong. First with waking up too early, then I got shorted on my morning coffee, trying to get back into our morning school routine with school in session wasn't easy either.
I was too early for the mail, and somehow with all the morning "to do's" I was still late getting to the valley.
When I arrived at nest 7 my luck changed even more. I pulled out my Canon and the camera was dead. Completely gone. I know I charged the battery last night. I took the battery out and put it back in. I tried taking out the flash card, reinserting it, but the camera didn't do anything.
I had two choices: Drive back to Rochester and return later this afternoon and early evening to do my project, or shoot with
my spare camera that had limited lens power. I decided to shoot with my small camera, with my line up of afternoon appointments I didn't want to chance not getting back down to the valley.
I didn't want to have to go plunk down $2000 or more on a temporary camera either. I prayed all day it was something simple, like the battery died. Maybe a lens pressed the shutter all night and all day draining the camera? I just knew that today would be a day that the eaglets would hatch and I wouldn't have a good shot.
I even resorted to shooting my video screens, just for close-ups. I have back up batteries for all my Canon's, even back ups to the back ups. All except this camera. I bought this one as a trial thing, and didn't expect it to outlive my expensive Canons.
Want a good consumer tip? Don't waste your money on the big guns.
You'll only get 60,000 shots on your Canon 10D, 20D, 30D, and they say 100,000 on the 40Ds and 5Ds, and 300,000 on the Mark Ds, but if you shoot as a professional, than do the math. That's not many shots for their prices, that is like every 20 assignments you should by a new camera.
That's exactly what was going through my head as I held my "kiss of death, Canon #6". Um, and that includes rebuilding Canon's 1-4, 4 times, 3 times, and 2 times, one to go back in, and well I guess I lost track after that. They advertise these are professional use cameras and when I argued their advertised cameras are not professional quality, they told me I was over using my cameras.
Over-using my camera's? What journalist, wedding photographer, editorial, stock or assignment photographer doesn't shoot at least a couple hundred shots on a job? Hmm. One of their techs told me to get a video camera if I'm going to shoot that many pictures a day on my documentary. Canon, any comments yet?
So don't ask me what camera I prefer. For me the answer is "Whatever camera works on any given day." Today it was my Son.God knows I love my Sony's, all of them. Great optics, great endurance, solid in and out.
I hiked out to nest 1 and found Dancer on the nest. I'm certain their babies are coming by tomorrow. The parents are still anxious and excited. Daedee was up flying with an immature eagle, I couldn't identify it. She led it out to the south end of the valley. Dancer went back to incubating.
I shot a snail that was moving about slowly, and then the log where we sit just drew me to photograph it. I did. I posted it above. It wasn't until tonight that I could understand that my dad was somehow a part of that image. He used to love my images of wood doors, wood doors with hooks, hinges, barn doors, and my wood images. He would have been a likely fan of my Spirit Trees of Whitewater book.
This fallen log had become a part of my journeys tapestry today. I printed out the image and gave it to my mom tonight and I told her that somehow dad was connected to that picture today. My sister, her husband and son, and my husband and daughter, we all took her out for dinner so she wouldn't be at home tonight alone, thinking how today would have been her 46th anniversary had dad not died.
I hiked out and moved on to nest 2. Judy stood up just about five minutes after my arrival and began tearing eaglet sized strips off a carcass in her nest and dipping her beak into the nest feeding an eaglet. I saw the little guy, just a softball sized ball of white down. I decided to name that eaglet, Terry Gail after my dad and mom. Mom got tears in her eyes when I told her that tonight.
I stood for about fifteen minutes watching her feed. There isn't an eaglet on this earth, any solo eaglet that has an appetite that big. By the way the mom was leaning directly below to feed and then stretching over to feed Terry Gail, I am quite confident we have twins, but I can't confirm that. Heck, I couldn't even shoot the pictures today. I got some video, and a few shots, but God-willing, tomorrow I will be posting some eaglet pictures if available.
My friend Chad stopped by and I almost asked to borrow his camera, but I didn't.
No other eaglets hatched today, but I suspect by trout opener this weekend, we will have at least half dozen "little beakers" begging for fish, wild turkey and whatever the parents bring in.
I came back to my studio and charged my exhausted battery, and my Canon is working again. Still, I'm switching brands and I'll use my Canons for extras until they die permanently which with my "overshooting" shouldn't take long. Maybe two months, three tops.
I'm looking forward to Day 91.
See you on the journey--
Lisa
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment