I went out to do some photography on January 20th 2014 Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It was a beautiful day that had me motivated to walk many miles to find my subjects. I first went down the Dyke Marsh trail to the end in search of the Eared Grebe and the construction of a new Bald Eagles nest. I hoped to see the pair of eagles near or at the nest but after I reached the end of the trail there were no sign of any birds at all. So I turned around and headed back to the start of the trail. I was lucky because by the half way point to the end of the trails beginning I saw a small group of birders gathered looking at something, so I went over and asked a lady what they were looking at but she had no clue. We decided to continue up the trail and look around and right next to the trail a Red shouldered Hawk was sitting on a limb low to the ground in a search for food. I started to take photographs and decided to stay and follow the Hawks hunt. I thought I was done with the Hawk after he crossed over to the other side of the trail and watching him fail in his hunt for food many times. I decided to leave the Dyke Marsh Trail and go over to the Mt. Vernon Trail and search for the eagles along that side of Dyke Marsh which Ive had a lot of luck finding Bald Eagles along the trail. I started down the trail south towards Morningside Bald eagles nest site but just south of Belle Haven Marina I encountered the same Red Shouldered Hawk that I photographed on the Dyke Marsh trail. These images are even closer than the prior images that i took on the Dyke Marsh trail. I continued down the trail and was surprised to find two Bald Eagles deep in the woods near to the marsh and probably the pair that is building a new nest site. This ended a great day of photography for me and sign of good things to come in this years Bald Eagle nesting season.
