The two eagles who performed for us on cue two years ago, circling the boat and swooping down to pick up food, were no longer performing. It seems that a different pair of eagles occupy that nest and are not as tame as the previous pair. We were unable to get very close to the eagles. In fact, the closest I got to a wild eagle this trip was when I passed beneath one perched above the highway in a tree as I was returning to Lafayette.
The highlight of the trip this year was seeing several captive birds, up close. Staff members from the American Eagle Foundation drove down from East Tennessee. They brought a golden eagle, a bald eagle, a Swainson's hawk, a turkey vulture, a crested caracaras, an american kestrel, and an owl. I'm always fascinated by hearing about and observing the unique behaviors of individual animals. For example, the caracaras demonstrated his ability to differentiate colors and the vulture demonstrated his flying abilities.
At the Thursday night reception, sponsored by the Black Bear Conservation Committee, I met Jim Byron, who is a master photographer from Patterson in St. Mary Parish. Lots of other interesting people were there. The dinner Friday night was headlined by Kurt Mutchler, Deputy Director of Photography at National Geographic Magazine. He showed a fascinating slide show selected from the incredible photographers at the magazine.
The Saturday presentations included "Status and identification of eagles and other large, dark, confusing raptors in Louisiana" by Donna L. Dittmann and Steven W. Cardiff, who are collections managers at the LSU Museum of Natural Science. Another highlight was a presentation titled "Eagle Quest" by Bill Clark, photographer, author & lecturer. He presented most of the 70+ eagles found around the world. He has observed all but about four of them personally. It was fascinating.
The staff of the Cajun Coast Visitors & Convention Bureau did an outstanding job of running the conference, continuing their tradition of excellence.
The tours out in the marshlands and swamps were fruitful for observing wildlife. Besides some 30-40 bald eagles, I observed owls, three types of hawks, an osprey, a peregrine falcon, white pelicans, blue herons, american white ibises, nutria, and many others.
Now here is a selection of my favorite photographs from the trip. Most are landscapes and wildlife. A few are people, and a few are just miscellaneous subjects that I photographed while there. I selected these out of nearly 900 photographs that I took.
