On the Oregon coast one can be spritzed with any number of things, but usually it is rain.
One evening just before sunset, I was standing in the middle of a large estuary on a sand bar taking pictures of a heron. It was wading in the shade, so mostly I was watching and waiting. If it would just walk forward about 5 feet, I would have a lovely photo of it. Waiting....
Then I heard an eagle above me. I don't know what made this Tucson native instinctively think that's the sound an eagle makes, but the sound made me look up, and an eagle was flying by.
Wow, this is fabulous! A gorgeous big bald eagle could be beautiful to photograph at sunset. And it was. I had great light as it landed at the top of a tree. Then, I thought it would be a spectacular sight if I could catch it swooping down to catch a fish in the river--- because the river was also in great light. The majority of the river was east of me, and I was standing about 300 yards from the ocean surf to my west.
I then witnessed the grace of this huge bird as it flew past me and swooped into the ocean's surf and snatched an eel. Absolutely beautiful!!!!... But not so much for a photograph. It was all in silhouette and ocean mist.
A more skilled photographer probably could have still made it work. Work better. I like the feel of the resulting photo, but my husband says he can't tell what it is. Bummer.
I took several photos as the raptor circled back over the surf with it's serpentine prize. And if it should fly over my left, back to it's original perch, I could still get something reasonable.
It's flight path was straight to me, well over me. Amazing to watch, but still a silhouette. The eel in the talons was contorted into a perfect infinity sign. And when it passed over, because I was using my tripod, I couldn't take anything directly over me. Besides, who really likes looking straight up when a large bird is overhead?
My next photo....eagle butt. Not so spectacular.
When I got back into the car, I took a perfunctory glance into the mirror. Thank goodness I don't know a soul here. My hair could have been styled with an egg beater.
Makeup... more macabre than Mabeline, and that was just the eyeliner.
At that moment, I knew that I was not going out to dinner in public....and this realization happened instantaneously.....
Normally, just looking this unkept would preclude my presence in a restaurant, but since I'm on vacation, I might push that boundary.
But blood splattered across ones face might bring unwanted attention, I thought.
So, that wasn't just sea spray, or a spritz of rain.
Was it an eel, or a snake? I don't know why, but somehow I'm better thinking I was sporting eel's blood across my face. Heck, I eat sushi. But, if it was a snake, that's really gross!
Once again, the photos have minimal artistic merit, but upon close inspection, there are droplets of blood raining down.
Bald Eagle catches eel
Eagle with Eel flying directly overhead
Bald Eagle with eel
Eagle with Eel flying directly overhead
