Superstorm Sandy took its toll on more than just humans in October. Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on the Virginal coast has been home to a pair of Bald Eagles for several years. Their nest was in a grove of pine trees approximately 500 feet from the wildlife loop road. Unfortunately, the storm blew down several trees including the one holding their nest. It was a sad sight to behold.

This pair has no home. 🙁

According to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, the Bald Eagle mating season along the Chesapeake Bay begins in November and can last through mid-July. Most eggs are laid from mid-January to late February.

It can take 3 months to build a nest so there’s no time to waste.

Fortunately, we found our eagles hard at work building their new nest in the same grove of trees.

We watched for hours as both birds brought limbs and other materials from the woods to the north.

Keep in mind that Bald Eagles are huge and have a wingspan of 6 to 8 feet. Look at the size of the limb this one is hauling. It could be 15 feet long!

They have to have massive building materials because the nest will be around 6 feet in diameter. Big enough to hold a full-grown man with room to spare.

The eagles took turns flying in limbs while one would stay at the job site carefully fitting the materials into place.

A few times there was a long delay before an eagle returned. We guessed that it might be lunchtime. I was hoping for a flight shot with a fish but, no takeout food was brought back.

Nest building is hard work. You have to take a break sometimes.

Nothing compares to the regal look of an adult Bald Eagle. It’s no wonder they were selected as our national symbol.

We spent most of our time at Chincoteague this trip watching the eagles but, they weren’t the only game in town.

One small group of Snow Geese was out in the pond near the beach road. A hawk flew by and got them excited one too many times so they eventually got up and flew away.

I couldn’t resist shooting this lone Snow Goose with the moon. I had to resort to some Photoshop magic to get both of them in focus.

This little male Bufflehead showed up and gave me another opportunity to hone my “Bufflehead photography” skills. I’m getting better but, they’re still tough to shoot.

Chincoteague NWR is always a treat. Yes, it’s known for the wild ponies but, the bird photo opportunities are unmatched. It just seems that you can get closer to the wildlife here than most places. The ponds and ditches are near the roads and trails and the birds seem to sense that they are safe here. Long lenses are still needed but, most trips produce several keeper images.

I’m already looking forward to my next visit.

Another stop last week on our East Coast journey was a visit to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge. It’s located on the Delaware Bay northeast of Dover. The refuge covers 16,251 acres. A portion contains several ponds and ditches along a 12-mile network of gravel roads. It offers everything that migratory waterfowl could dream about.

This year is their 75th anniversary!

Our last visit to Bombay Hook was on November 25, 2008. By coincidence we visited on exactly the same date this year, November 25, 2012. Weird!

This image is from 2008 and shows the tens of thousands of Snow Geese that were there at the time. This year we saw a couple of relatively large flights right after sunrise but, that was it. They were just flying over and never landed. That surprised us a bit because we had seen a few thousand down at Lake Mattamuskeet and figured most of the Snow Geese must still be further north. We had expected to see large numbers at Bombay Hook. Oh well…

The weather was a vast improvement over Lake Mattamuskeet. We still had to deal with the wind but, we had MUCH better light for photography. The gray-gloomy conditions were replaced by nice partly clouded skies.

One glance at this Mallard and you can immediately see what good lighting conditions will do for you. All of those beautiful iridescent feathers simply pop in the sunshine. No amount of post processing can make up for a lack of beautiful natural light.

An even better example is this Green-winged Teal. I managed to make this image at the exact moment when the sun struck his signature green wing. That’s no Photoshop gimmickry…those green feathers really are that brilliant!

Here’s another one that I shot in the Bear Swamp Pool area. His wing position is mostly hiding the green feathers. He’s still a dapper fellow and one of my favorite ducks.

Teal are much smaller than Mallards and quite speedy fliers.

The Teal may be small but, this next little guy is tiny. He’s a Bufflehead and is a diving duck. They nest in old woodpecker holes. Usually Northern Flickers or Pileateds.

The Bufflehead is a challenge to photograph for two reasons. First there’s tons of contrast between the dark and light areas which makes the highlight detail in the white areas “blow out”. Basically, all of the detail gets lost. Using spot metering helps but, it’s rarely enough. The second problem is that unless you’re shooting in good light the dark area on his head will appear solid black. This little duck has wonderful greens and purples that can only be seen when the light falls just right. Also, note his pink foot just under the water.

Even this lowly Coot looks distinguished and almost professorial under the pleasing glow of early morning golden light. (well, maybe that’s taking things to the extreme)

I’ll close with this image of an immature Red-shouldered Hawk. He’s entranced by the Sweetgum balls. Unfortunately, this image was shot in less than perfect light but, hey! It’s a cool hawk!

For some reason, this has been raptor week. Everywhere we went we saw birds of prey. Hawks, Falcons and Eagles.

Bombay Hook NWR did not disappoint. We missed the Snow Geese this year but, that was OK. Once again nature gave us plenty of other beautiful sights to dazzle and leave lasting impressions. Both digital and mental.