Yellowstone eagle catching lunch

Most everyone has been to Yellowstone, so you know there is so much to see and do at this very famous national park. From the amazing rivers, waterfalls, and of course the wildlife that abounds. We were so fortunate to experience all of these things while visiting a few years ago, but we were absolutely taken back one day as we were leaving the park.

If you have been to Yellowstone you know there is a huge eagles nest just past the entrance to the right of the Yellowstone River. When you are leaving the park it is to your left and the river is to your right. We had seen it time and time again, but never actually saw the eagle or it's young. Well today was our lucky day folks. We stopped the jeep along side the road, which by the way you are not supposed to do. There are signs telling you not to do that. My husband and I looked at each other and thought what's the worse that could happen, so we get a ticket. What caught our attention was the eagle perched on a limb just above the nest. We thought to ourselves, today could be a lucky day of photo shooting. Right when we parked the car and quickly got out, we noticed the eagle had left the branch and was headed towards the river. Boy were we excited we could hardly stand it. If you are like me, when there is an opportunity for a very cool photo, well my heart starts beating just a little faster, and it was.

We walked over to where we could see the eagle start to descend along the river bank. I guess there was a rodent running along the edge of the river, we couldn't see it but those sharp eagle eyes sure could. The eagle quickly captured the little creature and then positioned itself on a large log by theriver bank to catch it's footing. It then spread it's wide wings and took off and flew towards the nest. You will forgive me at this point my shots became just a tad bit blurry because I was having to take so many, hope they don't hurt your eyes too badly.

We were in awe. Both my husband and I just looked at each other and thought that was awesome. Then to our surprise as we stood there looking at the eagle by it's nest, it took off again. Wow we thought because she was coming right back to the river's edge. This time I looked in the water and could see exactly what she was after. There was a mother and her baby ducklings swimming happily in the water. Oh no I thought, this is not going to be pretty.

I began shooting the photos once again as this spectacular eagle began to descend once again into the river. She stretched her talons and in the blinking of an eye she captured a baby duckling and off it went again. More food for that little one crying at the nest. I felt so sorry for the mother duck, she just started swimming faster getting her other little ones all together. This is how it is out here in the wilderness, it's survival of the fittest. How fortunate we were to have been able to experience those few moments and capture it on camera too. Another very cool experience at Yellowstone.  Cheers and Blessings!