Ridgefield NWR, March 23, 2017. I spent about 15 minutes watching this immature Bald Eagle out in the marsh nearly 300 feet, appearing to be playing with a stick it had found on the wooden perch you see him standing on. Repeatedly, the bird would grab the stick with one talon and lift it to its beak, hold it there for a few seconds, and drop it. After a while the bird walked (or hopped) to another perch nearby and found a stick about twice the diameter of the one you see under its foot in this picture. The bird picked that stick up the same way. I’m not really sure what the interest was in these sticks but it was fun to watch.
Canon 5D Mark III, 1/1250, f4, ISO 1250, 500mm, 10:14 a.m.
