Golden Eagles And Their Chicks

Dale Matson

Click on Photographs To Enlarge.

I have been following a Madera County adult golden eagle pair for the second year in a row now. They are attentive parents and spend an ample amount of time in the nest. Now that the chicks are older, the chicks can fend for themselves and feed themselves. The parents spend less time and range further as the weeks go by. The Parents have to work harder to provide enough to eat for these hungry chicks which are now bigger than chickens.

The morning light is the best for photographing and videoing the eagles and their chicks. The last few weeks the adults have been perched on a dead snag near the nest and I have been able to get some rather clear photographs as opposed to the obscured nest photos.

It will be weeks yet before the chicks are ready to fledge and I am trying to get there once a week to mark the progress. Hope you enjoy looking at these beautiful eagles. the larger bird on the left is the female.

Balsam Forebay Ospreys 2019

Dale Matson

Click On Photographs To Enlarge

Osprey Nest

Here are some photos from the 2016 article with a sunny day.

https://midsierramusing.blogspot.com/2016/06/balsam-forebay-ospreys.html

Almost as inevitable as an annual spring are the resident Ospreys at the Balsam Forebay above Shaver Lake. I have gone up every spring for about 15 years. This year, the snow has melted enough at about 6,500’ to get to the forebay. It is early and I believe the Ospreys have not even begun preparing the nest for the eggs yet. The 2016 article was a month later and the Ospreys were working on the nest in early June.

Hike Route From Parking Area Just Off CA Highway 168

 Osprey With Fish

 Osprey In Nest

Mallard Duck

Sequoia Park: A Short Drive On The Generals’ Highway

Dale Matson

Click On Photographs To Enlarge

I was at a clergy retreat at St. Anthony’s Retreat Center in Three Rivers CA and had a free afternoon, so I drove into the south entrance to Sequoia National Park which is only about four miles from Three Rivers. From there the Generals’ Highway winds and ascends north and there are beautiful sights along the way.

There is a picnic area not too far from the entrance near what is called Hospital Rock. There are also pictographs and paths down to the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River. Watch out for Poison Oak along the trail!

Currently both Dogwood, Redbud, Yucca and Lupin are in bloom. I drove up to about 6,000’ till I reached the beginning of the Giant Sequoia Grove before heading back down to Three Rivers.

I took all the photos with the Leica Q which has a fixed 28mm F1.7 lens.