Plus yesterday morning I had one of my most frustrating experiences ever with any kind of wildlife. This time with a bobcat.
Yesterday we finally had some nice morning light so I went up into the mountains looking mostly for birds. Birds were slow, at least the cooperative ones were. We have pretty good numbers of wintering Bald Eagles in areas with open water nearby but none of them were close in good light.
But this immature eagle’s distinctive facial markings caught my eye. Like the others this one wasn’t close (this photo is cropped to 40% of the original image). Through my lens those markings reminded me of those of an Osprey. I think this head turn showing off the hooked beak emphasizes that impression.
A huge crop of the same image (7.5% of the original) allows us to see more details of the head markings.
I wanted a better look at the bird’s belly markings but after pulling forward in my pickup perhaps 75′ this was the best view I could get and this photo isn’t quite as sharp as the previous one.
Don’t get me wrong. There may not be anything necessarily remarkable about this bird. Markings on young Bald Eagles vary considerably, to the point that no two of them look exactly alike. I just thought the whites on this bird’s head were unusual. And even attractive.
But seeing this oddly distinctive Bald Eagle wasn’t my most exciting event of the morning. Far from it.
Later that morning I came closer to a bobcat than I’ve ever been. Much closer.
So close that with my teleconverter attached to my 500mm lens I wouldn’t have been able to fit “him” in the frame. At least not comfortably. He was sitting on top of a rock and not moving so I had a completely unobstructed view of him. And I had three DSLR cameras attached to lenses of assorted focal lengths within arm’s reach so I had my choice of camera/lens combinations.
OK Bub, so why no photos?
Wouldn’t you know it, I was driving 75 mph westbound down Parley’s Canyon on I-80 somewhere between Lamb’s Canyon and Mountain Dell when we spotted him on the rock in the median between the eastbound and westbound freeway lanes. I was in the fast lane (or the one next to it, can’t remember) so we were very close. Even so I was driving so I only had a brief glimpse of him.
Looking back on it I can’t believe the bobcat wasn’t already road kill. To be where he was that cat had to have already crossed all of the eastbound lanes and anyone who’s ever been on I-80 around midday (it was about 11:30) on a sunny Saturday knows how heavy the traffic was. And how fast, with lots of big trucks.
But he still had the eastbound lanes to cross before he’d be safe and if I know cats he’d have attempted to dart like a maniac across the freeway which would likely panic some drivers driving 75-80 mph downhill – a recipe for disaster for both humans and that particular bobcat.
So far I haven’t heard about any serious accidents in Parley’s Canyon yesterday or about any road killed bobcats so perhaps he somehow made it safely across. He had no other choice but to try.
I certainly hope he made it. That’s my biggest concern. But how very frustrating for two wildlife photographers to be that close to a stationary bobcat out in the open with at least five DSLR’s and assorted lenses between us and not be able to get any photos.
The moaning and groaning inside the cab of my pickup was truly pitiful.
Ron
Notes:
- There’s a relatively new wildlife crossing on I-80 at Parley’s Summit but it’s about 8 miles east of where we saw the bobcat.
- The bobcat had a much better chance of safely crossing the eastbound lanes (that it had already crossed) because it’s steeply uphill in that direction so at least the big trucks were going slow. The westbound lanes going downhill were another story. I-80 in Parley’s Canyon is one of the steepest sections of Interstate in the nation.
- When it comes to bobcats I’ve been jinxed. I’ve ony seen two in my entire life – this one and another one many years ago before I became a bird and wildlife photographer along the Mirror Lake Highway. Given as much time as I’ve spent in wild areas of western states odds are I’d have seen more.
Ok Bub, so why no photos?
According to your lesson on how to write and pronounce “okay”, I read that as “ock Bub”. 😉
Good point. Force of habit. I’ll fix it.
Linda (Shoreacres) mentioned your bobcat story to me so I came by to read. Although I am neither a bird or other wildlife photographer, I do get the occasional opportunity and have had frustrating misses like yours. I’ve had a few bobcats, bears and coyotes cross my moving path over the years but nothing to show for it other than a neat experience of seeing them. I’ve had some luck at a pond shooting out of my car as a blind as you describe in your about page. Will be looking forward to your posts although may not have a lot of experiences to share.
Welcome, Steve. Oftentimes the “neat experience” you describe is worth at least as much as any photo. But some of us are selfish and want both… 🙂
I’d call the day a win for getting a photo of the very stylish leucisitc Eagle. Just seeing the Bobcat was icing on the cake, even without a photo. For documentary purpose, however, I think you should have provided your followers with a recording of the moaning and groaning in the cab of the truck.
Ha, if you were here now it wouldn’t HAVE to be a recording, Lyle. We’re both still doing it!
Bobcats are usually so shy I wonder if this guy/gal was raised by humans…(or just hungry for “face time”)😊
Patty, I think he just wanted to hunt the nice creek habitat on the other side of the freeway.
Such wonderful finds. A unique situation in each instance! I feel udot should have build two more wildlife crossing in the canyon. One in the area between Little Dell and Lambs Canyon. There seems to be a natural crossing from the higher elevation to the creek area below across all those busy lanes. One has to only look at the amount of road kill in some of the areas to see more crossings are needed.
I agree with you, April – especially right there at the mouth of Lamb’s Canyon.
Beautiful creature! Loving the close crop and how stinkin’ sharp the point of that beak is! Would hate to be on the receiving end of that thing!
Bummer about the Bobcat — hopefully, he made it across I-80 and you’ll get many more timely opportunities with him. When I had the puppies last week, they were constantly doing adorable things with each other or with their mama and as soon as I picked up the phone to take a pic or video, it all stopped. I finally gave up. 😛
Aaaaand because it’s all about Bobcats… https://thebloggess.com/2015/11/27/an-unexpected-visitor-who-either-wants-a-snuggle-or-to-eat-my-face-skin-off/ Check out the video links too.
Marty, thanks for the link. Personally I’d love to have that experience with a bobcat, if I lived in an appropriate place for it to happen without it having to be trapped or tranquilized.
This is an interesting eagle. I know that the plumage of young birds is highly variable, but I’ve not seen one with markings similar to this one. I’ve seen several bobcats out in the wild, but my closest encounter came just a couple of months ago when I opened the front gate and found a bobcat standing in the front yard just 15 feet from me. He quickly turned and ran away. We live in the south hills of Eugene. It’s well-developed, but still quite wooded with plenty of wildlife. We had an unexpected event just a couple of weeks ago. Our cat raced across the bed in the middle of the night and ran to the window. Barbara looked out to see a gray fox standing on our second story deck. It quickly ducked below the rail and climbed down the bushes. (Gray fox is the only New World dog that can climb trees.)The wooded habitat is perfect for gray fox, but we have never seen one here before. Red fox are common in the open fields of the valley floor. Cougar have been seen in an undeveloped park very near us, but we have not seen one here. Of course, there are many kinds of birds and this winter, there are many more Townsend’s Warblers than usual. A beautiful spot of color on dreary winter days.
You have quite an array of wildlife, Dan. This winter we’ve had several instances of cougars appearing in cities along the Wasatch Front. Freaks people out (more than it should in my opinion…) But then I don’t have kids at home.
Bobcats either stare at you from the open or disguise themselves from view. I’ve had both happen. One November day, clumps of dry bunchgrass on the ground and clumps of dead leaves in the bare oak trees, a bicycle bell rang, and one of the clumps of dead leaves dropped from the oak and ran up hill. Since then, I always wonder what is watching me. Opposite example, a warm spring day, sitting by a bush, 25 feet ahead at 1 o’clock is a fine young bobcat. He looked at me. I looked at him. I took photos. He didn’t care. He had bright yellow eyes. After a while, he moved off, into the brush, and if you didn’t know where he was you would not see him. End of story.
With nature, you just never know. Why I love it.
I’m envious of both experiences you describe, Martha.
Just seeing an eagle AND a bobcat would have made my day. I feel for you about the missed photographs and hope that the bobcat got across the road safely.
The eagle markings are delightful.
On the fire front (and I promise to stop cluttering your comments with my concerns) we had a better day yesterday. No flames visible from home. Less smoke. It still burns and is still uncontrolled but for the moment (subject to wind changes) we are in much less danger. I wish the same was true of the wildlife and their habitat.
Finally, a turn for the better. For you it’s overdue, EC.
That is good news for the moment EC. Hope it continues!
The eagles white patch reminds me of my husbands ❗️ Another picture of a gorgeous Bald eagle..YaY ❗️ Finally got a chance to go check out our local nest and found one sitting in it… another Yay❗️And also saw around 40 Mergansers ❗️
It was a good day😁
Well then, Diana. If you think my eagle is gorgeous you probably think your husband is too. That’s always a good thing… 🙂
I guess the guy is going bald😉 Still a wambli gleska…Nice shots!!! Know how a missed shot can haunt you!!! Still bothered by one I missed years ago…rain on glass, snow, orange snow fence, black asphalt…nothing special, but beautiful to me…
Thanks, Patty.
Good morning, nice to see the pictures of the subadult Eagle and to hear about the Bobcat. You almost need to have a webcam on your windshield! I bet that was quite a picture to see him.
It was, Trudy. I didn’t see it for long but I’ll always remember it.
High speed Bobcat Torment, it just ain’t fair. Hope you get a good and safe bobcat opportunity soon.
Hope that cat made it out of there safely, I’ve never seen or heard of a road killed bobcat and don’t ever want to.
Just had a young fox camping out in a home I have under construction, fox seemed perfectly at ease with crew activity nearby, pretty incredible.
Interesting story about your fox, Dave. I know they can be fairly adaptable to humans but that’s a bit over the top.
Love watching our eagles here grow up. Much like we humans some mature beautifully and some not so attractively. Your eagle here is looking very handsome at this stage in its life. We have one right now who appears to be fully mature except that he has a scruffy looking top of his head. Glad you did not make any foolish moves in order to get a photo of that bobcat. It is always hard to pass up a wildlife photo opp, but not good to put yourself or others in danger in order to do so. When driving through forest areas here in traffic I keep reminding myself to not react to deer, coyotes, foxes, etc, that suddenly appear on either side of the road.
Everett, at this stage in my life I’m programmed to reach for my lens without even thinking whenever something like this happens. But this time I had no chance in hell to do it safely so all I could do was moan in frustration.
Markings are a bit distinctive on the eagle – it does look Osprey like… 🙂 The stationary bobcat certainly would have caused a bit more than moaning and groaning for me! Sure hope it made it the rest of the way whichever way it was going! Doesn’t sound promising in those circumstances….. 🙁 Worst blowing dirt we’ve ever seen yesterday! 🙁 I got “sand blasted” a couple of times going outside! Several roads out of GF closed for several hours including the one we use and alternate routes – no we weren’t out and about! Layer of “dirt” on everything and about as many twigs/cones down as the bad hail storm last spring – Whata mess! Fortunately no fires close by tho guess there were some. Trees/power lines/roofs in GF.
That sounds simply awful, Judy. I only remember it being about that bad a time or two when we lived in Cut Bank or on the farm. Once it blew part of the roof off of my cousin’s house. I hated that wind!
What a story. I know I-80, and I know Parley’s Canyon, having lived in SLC for a year. I can visualize the scene, and I can hear the groans — my sympathies!
Thanks, Shoreacres. Yes, it was maddening. I finally drifted off to sleep last night thinking about that cat, the perilous position it was in and the missed opportunity.