On the morning that I photographed sunrise at Orlando Wetlands, one of the first birds I saw was a Bald Eagle sitting in the treetops. I watched that bird all morning. He spent a good part of the golden hour sitting in a treetop, watching and waiting.

He flew off a couple of times, circling the wetlands. Every time he flew over the ducks, they’d all take in a chaos of whistles and wings. But the eagle always returned with empty talons.

Golden hour had long past when the eagle flew off on another search for his breakfast. I was following him when he suddenly entered a dive…

A split second later, he was at the water’s edge, grabbing a siren with his strong talons.

In a heartbeat, the eagle was airborne again, with water droplets flying around his prey.

The eagle carried his breakfast a few years, then hovered in mid-air for a quick nibble. Then he swept through the wetlands, his trophy on display, before finding a suitable tree to eat.

You see this kind of behavior all the time in the marshes, but it’s not always easy to have the camera focused in the right place at the right time. But today I did…what a fun way to end a great morning!