This photo was taken on the Eastern Shore of Maryland at the Pickering Creek Audubon Center in February '08. Taken with a 300 mm lens while the eagle soared some several hundred feet above the shoreline. The image was not quite as sharp as I liked so I intentionally added a canvas texture to give it the feel of a painting.The bald eagle population has recovered well since the worst days of the 1950's and 1960's when the population was devastated by the effects of the pesticide DDT. From a low of 487 nesting pairs in the "lower 48" in 1963, there are now estimated to be over 12,000 nests. The Chesapeake Bay is home to one of the higher concentrations of eagles outside of Alaska. The eagles where removed from the Endangered and Threatened Species List in 2007 however the greatest threat today is continued habitat loss to development.
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