When nature is kind to us living in the Farmington Valley, it announces itself in late December with a gentle snow fall.  Well, this year, so far, we are experiencing a textbook winter. In fact, most of New England woke up  Christmas morning to discover, on average, three inches of snow on the ground. Two days later we were gifted with several more inches. Christmas day snow for southern New England is not as common as we would like it to be. When it does snow, we do our best to take advantage of this rare happening. The last significant snow on Christmas day, that I can remember, was the winter of 2004. That storm deposited seven inches of snow in the Farmington valley. Sever other states including: Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, North and South Carolina, and most of New England also woke up to a White Christmas.

Since I have no photos of the 2004 storm, I decided to get out and visit some of my favorite places to photograph this Christmas Day event .

The River

The following three photos were taken near my favorite trout fishing spots on the Farmington River

The Tower

Unfortunately, I was not able to get up to the Heublein Tower, because of the snow, and had to be content with a shot from the valley.

Kolp Gardens

To the local farmers an early winter snow fall represents more than a scenic view. I also provides a protective blanket for the fall cover crop of winter rye.  This vital crop keeps the the soil in place when the Valley is assaulted by frequent high winds from the northeast  during the winter, and drenching rain in the early spring. This early snow cover will ensure a productive warm weather growing season.

The High School

This hillside will remain busy as long as there is snow on the ground.

Stone Will at The Hill-stead Museum

A winter view of the Lourdes Of Litchfield grotto.

I’ve been talking about what takes place on the north bank of the Rogue River, just outside of Gold Beach, what with the elk and other animals. I’ve even mentioned and provided photos of a candy store a mile or so from Highway 101. These are all things the tourists usually miss. However, today I’m going to talk about what’s happening in the Port of Gold Beach. Most of the tourists miss this, too.

This time of year, with the fisherman largely gone, the harbor seals are back in the port and will be here until spring. But what’s also back are the bald eagles. Well, one eagle, anyway.

I have a friend, Earl Yager, who lets me know when there’s one down in the port. It has apparently marked off one of the wooden pilings in the port as its own, and it goes there to eat in the morning. I don’t know where it finds what it’s eating when it’s sitting atop this piling, and I can’t blow my photos up any further to be able to tell for certain what it was eating on this particular moring, but Earl tells me there are times the resident seagulls harass the eagle while it’s up there. My guess is that it’s not so much that they see the eagle as a threat as it is that they hope to drive it off whatever it’s eating, or make it drop it, so they can get a free meal. I’ve seen them harass ospreys and even each other in the same way.

Anyway, these eagles, as well as the seals, sea lions, and other wildlife in the port, are more things the tourists miss when they blow through town. However, if you stop here for even a rest stop, you’re likely to see things you’re not going to see in LA, San Francisco, or wherever it is you come from. And if you eat at on of the portside restaurants, like the Port Hole, and request a window seat, you might get a show while you have dinner.

All of the photos were taken with my Canon 5D Mark III using my Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM prime lens.

Because of the distance — at least 200 yards — I set the camera up on my tripod. The 1/1000 of a second shutter speed does a lot to reduce camera shake, but it was windy, I was shivering, and it was a long distance, so I wanted to make the camera as steady as possible. I’d have used a time delay or my remote but with the wind, I needed my hand on the camera to keep it steady, anyway.

Don’t forget to click on the photos so you can see them enlarged.

This is as much as I can blow these photos up without losing resolution. But, blown up, I still can’t tell quite what it is the bird was eating.

Shutter speed 1/1000     f-stop 5.6     ISO 320     focal length 400mm

Same here.

Shutter speed 1/1000     f-stop 5.6     ISO 320     focal length 400mm

But it clearly looks like some kind of fish.

Shutter speed 1/1000     f-stop 5.6     ISO 320     focal length 400mm

Shutter speed 1/1000     f-stop 5.6     ISO 320     focal length 400mm

Shutter speed 1/1000     f-stop 5.6     ISO 320     focal length 400mm

Shutter speed 1/1000     f-stop 5.6     ISO 320     focal length 400mm

It had probably noticed me before. But here it’s finally taking a timeout, apparently to take a good long hard look at what I’m doing.

Shutter speed 1/1000     f-stop 5.6     ISO 320     focal length 400mm

I threw this one in because it just makes the bird look so regal.

Shutter speed 1/1000     f-stop 5.6     ISO 250     focal length 400mm

Ditto here. And you can see, whatever it was eating, it’s about gone. Now, I’m off to the port to see if the eagle is back.

Shutter speed 1/1000     f-stop 5.6     ISO 250     focal length 400mm

I was talking with a friend, Ruth Dixon, over the weekend. I told her about a bald eagle I’d photographed that morning, within two miles of where she lives. She said, “I see them all the time. They hang out in the trees beside the River (meaning the Rogue). Sometimes I think, ‘I’m not like the tourists who slam on their brakes because they’ve never seen one before.’ Then I ask myself, ‘What am I saying? I should feel privileged to be able to see things like that.’ But you know how it is? I live here; I see them all the time.”

And that’s how I feel, now: privileged. I’ve never lived anywhere where I can step outside and see deer grazing fifty feet from my front door, or watch ospreys pulling fish out of a river, or see eagles soaring overhead.

Several weeks ago, my friend, Earl Yager, called me to say there was an eagle at the Port of Gold Beach and it was feeding on something.

I was there within minutes. As I recall, I was still wearing my slippers. But Earl was wrong; there were three eagles at the Port, an adult and two juveniles. What they were feeding on was a dead seal.

This is where I live.

These photos were shot with my old Canon 60D using my EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens. All are crops and I processed the first four to make them sharper.

When I arrived, the adult bald eagle was feeding on the carcass of a seal. One of the two juvenile eagles patiently waited, nearby.

Shutter speed 1/640     f-stop 8     ISO 250     focal length 400mm

Pretty soon, turkey vultures, ravens, and seagulls joined the juvenile eagles. Though some inched closer, none dared tangle with the eagle while it ate.

Shutter speed 1/500     f-stop 8     ISO 200     focal length 400mm

I watched and took photos for almost an hour while the tide inexorably rose, submerging more and more of the carcass. Suddenly, the eagle braced itself on the gravel bar and, using its powerful legs and the beat of its wings, it dragged more of the seal out of the water.

Shutter speed 1/640     f-stop 8     ISO 250     focal length 400mm

Though the eagle weighed a dozen pounds at most, it was able able to drag a body that weighed much more.

Shutter speed 1/500     f-stop 8     ISO 200     focal length 400mm

I moved to a new position, for better photos, and when the adult had had its feed, it flew further down the beach and this juvenile moved in. As the tide rose, the young bird, tried to pull the carcass out of the water, but it wasn't strong enough and, eventually, the tide overtook it and the remains of the seal's body were submerged. When I returned at low tide, the carcass was gone.

Shutter speed 1/640     f-stop 8     ISO 160     focal length 400mm