Wild North Idaho

Perfection’s Never Bought To make a score requires morethan aptitude and skill.A master knows, results will showfrom practice and great will.To dance the sky as eagles plyand snare a fish on wing,demonstrates what practice makes:rehearse is everything.Yet when a feat becomes completeand done without a thought,a master’s guess is not to rest,perfection’s never bought. ~ Poem and Bald Eagle capture, Perfection’s Never Bought © Jerry L. Ferrara, from the book, Wild North Idaho: Season of the Eagle

The Counterpoint To A Faceless Storm Standing in one spot waiting for a photo opportunity is one thing. Standing in a snow storm where at times visibility is questionable is another. When this magnificent creature emanated from the murky scape, its outline was vaguely defined. Was it real or a figment? Then the falling snow lightened. What came out of the storm was a creature on passage. In the fury of the stormLittle seems of solid formJust a sea of shapeless whiteBlowing left and flowing rightWhirls and whips the aerial seaA tumult in realitySlowly, though, a form takes shapeWithin the hoary-mantled drapeA feathered beast of royal formThe counterpoint to a faceless storm ~ Anecdote, poem and Bald Eagle capture, The Counterpoint To A Faceless Storm © Jerry L. Ferrara

The Line of Symmetry Many times the Bald Eagles fished far out from shore. Often it was disappointingly at too great a distance. Even with big glass the subjects and the visual tale were too small in the frame. Day after day I worked from first light to dusk capturing sequences of the birds hunting the water’s face. Most of the images were discarded. Then luck dawned, circumstances changed and persistence proved the key to success. The light was breathtaking that morning. The water’s tranquil surface seemed a visual echo. I had an uncanny sense something magical was about to happen especially with a subject at the right distance. Suddenly a mighty snow-capped creature swiftly swept in and deftly descended toward its weary and spent prey. No time for thought as I framed, followed and fired away. What was born in the camera was this capture of the eagle with fish in talons, the splash and the reflection. To my surprise both reality and the mirror image were separated by the line of symmetry.  ~ Anecdote and Bald Eagle capture, The Line of Symmetry © Jerry L. Ferrara 

A Burst Of Glory The speed of the undertaking was nothing less than meteoric as the feathered creature plummeted from the open sky toward a languishing, scaly target fixed isolated on the lake’s somber veneer. At death’s door, with its spawning role complete, the Kokanee Salmon held little life in its weary, spent body … for it, passing on would be a blessing. And so it was as the Bald Eagle’s steely talons hit the water’s surface with a violent force, grasping the dying fish and sending a mountain of moisture into the air. As the mighty predator’s momentum carried it forward, it surged heavenward on grandiose outstretched wings. What trailed behind was a burst of glory.  From far above a sky-bound beast so rockets swiftly to the feast.
As talons break the waterline they seize the flesh that’s gone supine. The eagle clutches matter gory but leaves behind a burst of glory. ~ Anecdote, poem and Bald Eagle capture, A Burst of Glory © Jerry L. Ferrara 

Dark Intruder Dark Intruder in the skyPower through while feathers plyAre you on a treach’rous search?Absent from your lofty perchSome below are not awareThat danger lurks but in the air … and one of Nature’s apex predators, the Bald Eagle, goes in search of a salmon meal. ~ Poem and Bald Eagle capture, Dark Intruder © Jerry L. Ferrara

Outspread Outspread wings invite the air. Drag and lift do battle there. When feathers sing in harmony,
the creature swims the sky so free. At the moment when it’s best,
it spreads its plumes and comes to rest. ~ Poem and Bald Eagle capture, Outspread © Jerry L. Ferrara from the book, Wild North Idaho: Season of the Eagle

The Creature’s Steely Stare Idly the white-headed apex predator sat discreetly nestled in the verdant atmosphere of the forest’s upper canopy … and a gently falling sleet added tenor to the creature’s steely stare. Yesterday [12-15-24] we had twenty-five-plus Bald Eagle sightings within a thirty-minute period. It’s a never-tiring thrill to see these magnificent raptors. Catching this one in a quiet moment with the snow just topped the day. ~ Anecdote and Bald Eagle capture, The Creature’s Steely Stare © Jerry L. Ferrara