Every year on my birthday, January 10th, I take a short walk with my camera around the neighborhood to see if there is a surprise awaiting me. It’s usually cold out, although it’s all relative. This birthday morning in Mt. Pleasant, SC, was in the high forties, low fifties. We have a number of good size ponds that the birds love, so the odds were that I most likely wouldn’t get skunked.

Just to make sure I didn’t get skunked on my 66 birthday, I took a pic of the finches and sparrows at our neighbors bird feeder! LOL. Then I took a token shot of some White Ibis feeding along our pond across the street, not an uncommon sight.

Off I walked, by the pond around the corner on Backshore Drive. Not a bird in sight. Then just up the road on the right is another pond where there has been a lot of bird activity lately. Nothing!

To the left is one of the bigger ponds called Watt Pond. No birds! At this point I’m resolved to the fact that it’s just going to be a walk around the neighborhood, on a nice sunny day, and I’m already looking forward to a nice dinner out with Jen.

At the corner of Watt Pond there are some dead trees that I occasionally see a hawk or kingfisher perched on, so I glanced up and there it was, my birthday bird! A beautiful, young eagle perched at the end of a dead branch, basking in the late afternoon sunlight.

I rarely see eagles around our neighborhood so I was excited to see this one. I knew I had about an hour left to observe and photograph him. I took a few quick pics to make sure I captured him on camera before he flew away. Then I carefully maneuvered into better position for lighting, checked my settings, and took more pics.

The wind was in his face and I was pretty sure that if he took off I would be in the right position to photograph him with his wings raised in all his glory. But, they can take off in a flash so I made sure I had my lens on him as much as possible.

My Canon EF 100-400mm lens is a heavy lens, and now that I’m 66 years old I’m finding it harder and harder to hold the camera upward for long periods of time. But, I’ve got a lot of patience! :) For well over an hour, I had my lens zeroed in on this magnificent bird, hoping that it would at least raise its wings or stretch or do something.

It must have eaten recently because it was as happy as could be just resting there at the end of the branch. A few buzzards circled high overhead and a kingfisher buzzed by, which had the eagle’s attention and got him to turn his head. A few students walking home from school and a couple walking a dog also got his attention. With each passerby, I was ready for the eagle to bolt.

The tendonitis in my elbows was acting up, my shoulders were wearing down. My time was running out to get the “money shot”! The light was just starting to grow dim. Dinner was fast approaching.

Each time I lowered my camera and stretched out my arms for relief, I figured I’d miss the shot. But, it turned out that my patience paid off! Right when it was time for me to head home, the eagle got a little fidgety and I was ready.

He lifted his beautiful painted wings, puffed his chest out and took off just as I had hoped. I only got a few shots off as he swooped down right toward me and then took off into the wild blue yonder.

It was a real test of patience and stamina, and I think the eagle felt it was time to make me happy. It was a great way to end the afternoon. Here he is, the birthday bird, a Lowcountry juvenile Eagle!

“One of the joys of being an artist is having the freedom to follow my passion….”

— William R. Beebe

My Happy Bird-day! ~ A nice surprise.