Swooper photo! British expat photographer snaps bald eagle taking a fish from Alaskan seas
- Alan Murphy, 59, from London, took the pictures while teaching in Alaska, U.S
- Shots show the bird’s incredible two metre wing-span and diving precision
- Bald eagle is species pair with white-tailed eagle recently reintroduced to UK
- Species pairs are anatomically and chemically similar, if not identical
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A photographer has captured incredible images of a bald eagle, the close relative of the recently reintroduced to England white-tailed eagle, diving for its dinner.
Alan Murphy, 59, from London, was in Alaska, U.S, when he snapped the stunning images which show the bald eagle’s two metre wing-span and illustrate its precision when diving down to catch its dinner.
Travelling at up to 100-miles-per-hour towards the water, the 14-pound bird’s talons wrap tightly around the fish.
The bald-eagle dives down into the water to catch its dinner and is snapped by photographer Alan Murphy, 59, from London, while teaching a workshop in Alaska, U.S
For the past ten years, Mr Murphy has spent eight days a year leading workshops in the Alaskan mountains educating others on how best to capture images of America’s national symbol.
‘The eagles will take any species of fish they can find as long as they can lift it out of the water,’ Alan said.
‘Sometimes, they will lock their talons onto a fish that’s too big and they’ll need to swim to the shore to drag the fish up.
‘They can spot fish from a very high elevation yet they grab the fish so delicately with their talons extended out in front of them.
‘The bald eagles in Alaska are quite tame – they’re used to boats and fisherman. They will go about their business right next to you which allowed us to get very close.
‘When the image with the full-banking wing spread was captured I was just metres away with my camera at water level.’
The bald eagle travels at around 30 miles-per-hour in regular flight and can travel over 30 miles in a day, using its sharp eyesight to spot its next catch.
Mr Murphy has spent the last ten years visiting Alaska for eight days a year leading workshops educating others on how best to capture images of America’s national symbol
It forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle – the largest bird of prey in the UK, which was recently reintroduced after becoming extinct in the country 240 years ago.
Species pairs are anatomically and chemically similar, if not identical.
Despite being America’s national symbol, the bald eagle was also facing extinction in the mid-twentieth-century but as Mr Murphy accounts, the numbers have dramatically increased since then.
‘In 1963, there were just 417 pairs of bald eagles. Now, there are over 69,000 pairs,’ Alan said.
‘They can be found in every state of the United States. It’s a great privilege to be able to photograph them.’