The story of bald eagles on the Channel Islands National Park is an interesting one. In the 1960s, the effects of DDT cause bald eagles to abandon the island, which opened the door for Golden eagles. Eventually, the native island fox was hunted almost to extinction by the goldens, until humans intervened by relocating the goldens and reintroducing the balds. Today, there is a healthy population of foxes and 12 breeding bald eagle pairs in the national park.
I was attempting to photograph finches feeding on seeds when this great bird appeared. The whole interaction took about 4 seconds (or felt like it did). First second: me thinking "that's a big bird." Second second: me sighting my camera using iron sights that I'd made from paper clips. Third and fourth seconds: holding the shutter down, thankfully hearing the electronic shutter humming away (which means the AF locked onto something). Then, this magnificent eagle was gone. What a thrill, though!
