I took this picture 2 years ago and assumed it was Bald Eagle morphing into it's adult plumage.  I've since been told by several people that it may be a Golden Eagle.  Was hoping someone could clarify?

I've looked in several ID books but am still hesitant to draw a conclusion, mostly because I shot this 1 or 2 miles up the Dalles Mountain Road, and I didn't think there were Golden's around here?  See lots of Bald Eagles though.  I've never seen a Golden in my life (that I know of).

It was a bad picture and had to brightened considerably.  Thoughts?

A link to a slightly larger image. http://www.pbase.com/s4b/image/55958831/original

---

S4B
http://www.pbase.com/s4b

yes that is most definetly a golden eagle.  bald immatures will not have a shiny golden head like that.

the first link that says "golden eagle?"  doesnt go to the direct picture, the second link does.

i saw my first golden eagle at baskett slough near salem.  i was bird watching... looking specifically for a snowy owl, which i found afterwards.  i drove by a barn,  and we spotted a bird, a large one at the top of a tree.  i set up the scope and took a few pictures through it.  its a very cool bird-  glad you found one!

---

jamey pyles

pyles_94:

yes that is most definetly a golden eagle.  bald immatures will not have a shiny golden head like that.

Thanks Jamey, I suspected as much but haven't heard talk of them being around The Dalles.  So I was suprised and a bit apprehensive to call it one.  Thanks for  your help.

pyles_94:

the first link that says "golden eagle?"  doesnt go to the direct picture, the second link does.

I upload my pics to .pbase.com.  I view the picture, right click and select copy, then right click and paste into the post.  I've noticed that when I do this, clicking on the pic takes the user to the gallery instead of the image. So I included a text link to get to the image on pbase.  When I view my post I see the pic then the text link below.  Sounds like you may not see a pic at all?  Just two text links?  I'm new here and only post to one other forum intermittently so I may not have it figured out yet.

I used to love going to Ankeny when I lived in Salem.  Never got to Basket Slough much, was on the wrong side of town for me.

---

S4B
http://www.pbase.com/s4b

yeah, i only see two links.

are you using mac or firefox?  i use firefox and mac and for both of those you cant copy and paste, you have to add a code thing after the image.  im not the best at explaining.  its at the bottom of the page on this link how to post pictures.  but i use flickr, not pbase,  so i dont know how it works

---

jamey pyles

I absolutely LOVE your gallery! You must be really patient to shoot all those birds.

Thanks Jamey, I'll try using the image tag next time and see if it works out better for everyone.  I use PC, IE, and winXP.  I think the tag's will probably fix the problem.

nyxlily - Thanks, I really enjoy it, so it doesn't seem like it takes a lot of patience.  The people around me normally disagree though, as their wanting to get further down the road :)

---

S4B
http://www.pbase.com/s4b