Although we saw an eagle en route, our best sighting of the day was along the railroad tracks on the south side of the Arkansas. Low and behold, our eagle stayed put while three trains came by, stopped, and took turns utilizing the right of way, while I photographed away.
Our cooperative eagle started out a bit obscured by the barren branches. Initial photos were taken with a Canon 40D and a Canon L 100-400 zoom.
I continued to photgraph from the south side of the tracks. Not wishing to inconvenience us, or limit our opportunities, 'our' eagle obliged by jumping to a more open viewing area.
Satisfied with his new vantage point, he settled in for an afternoon of preening and watching trains. I switched to a Canon 5D Mark II for the remainder of the shoot, curious how it would fare with its full frame sensor, but reduced effective focal length vs. the APS-C crop sensor.
As the trains came along one by one, and stopped in front of us, we found holes in their armor, and I continued to photograph the eagle across the way.
The new perch provided a perfect vantage point for our eagle to survey the train activity, and, when he chose, to keep an eye on activity on the river.
The trains were long and diverse, with an interesting variety of cars and containers.
Although all of the preening activity at times left our regal model looking a bit disheveled, he remained a majestic figure nevertheless.
At one point another eagle came flying up river from the east, and "our" eagle had quite a conversation with him/her as the new eagle flew by and continued up river to the west..
As twilight approached, our eagle began to lose interest in the train activity, and turned his attention toward the river.
As dusk approached, we left our eagle to his business, and headed toward home.
All that was left to round out a successful impromptu outing to replace the missed landmark gathering was a stop at Chandler Park to enjoy Tulsa's skyline at early twilight.
Til next month, Ciao and God Bless.
