I’m starting to feel a little relief because it’s finally here – Eagles and Agriculture kicks off tomorrow!  Yesterday, we set up the opening reception/art show display at the Holiday Inn Express in Minden (of course, some of us had to go back today to finish – no names, but you know who I am).  Here’s a quick shot of my display.  I hope to see many of you at the reception tomorrow evening.

The Record-Courier said there are still a few tickets available, so if you’re in the area and want to play, go to http://www.carsonvalleynv.org, see what’s available and come on down!

I split my available time this week between last minute preparation for E&A and a little bit of shooting.  I was able to locate a juvenile Bald Eagle this week – exciting for me as I’ve been having an eagle drought lately.  This raptor is about 4 years old, just on the cusp of full adult colors.  You might have seen similar images on Facebook.  We have a little group that shares locations of Eagles and other subjects.  I let my friends know, and a couple of them came by.  When the bird doesn’t leave the fence post, the images all start to look the same.

My favorite of the images I made. Classic Eagle pose, interesting color, but his chest feathers are a little rumpled. He reminds me of a pre-teen child who wants to be seen as an adult, but is still enjoying the fun of his youth.

I couldn’t resist playing with the editing a bit here. I ‘desaturated,’ or removed the color from, this image. I have a lot more that I want to play with on this image, but black and white works here. B&W also happens to be this week’s assignment in my weekly photo challenge – how lucky for me!

I like this image, too. I was trying to bring in the agriculture aspect by including the cow in the background, but it’s not as strong an image as I’d like it to be.

I also found a few Hawks and an American Kestrel.

I like this image for a couple reasons – he just finished eating and still has a little something on his beak, and he looks like he just got out of the shower. The colors came out well and I got good detail in his eye.

And with a nod to last week’s theme of launching birds, I had to include this Red-Tailed Hawk in flight!

Every now and then I find something really interesting and unusual. This Hawk was preening and his tail feathers rotated as his head reached to the left. In my years of watching the Hawks in the area, I’ve never seen this.

Who doesn’t love an American Kestrel. Some day I’m going to find a male in a tree or a bush, anywhere but a wire. Some day!

I’ve been looking forward to this year’s Eagles & Agriculture show for quite some time.   The next few days are going to be busy, without much opportunity to go shoot.  I hope to see many of you there.  Behave as best you can!  And I hope you enjoyed this week’s images!

PHOTOROGR