Description
Golden hour, and an adult bald eagle sitting the whole thing out on a lichen-covered branch. The last of the low sun has turned the bark and the lichen to gold and warmed the white of his head, and behind him the sky has gone the deep, saturated blue that only happens in the final half hour of the day. He is entirely at ease. I was the one holding my breath.
This is the full bird, head to tail: the mantle of brown feathers laid like shingles, the dark legs, the enormous yellow feet, and the white tail of a mature adult. An eagle this size carries a wingspan of six to seven and a half feet — wider than most people are tall — folded away out of sight while perched.
He is also a survivor of one of the great conservation reversals in American history. By the early 1960s, DDT had thinned bald eagle eggshells until fewer than 500 nesting pairs remained in the entire lower 48 states. The chemical was banned, the law protected them, and the birds came all the way back — delisted in 2007. Every eagle photographed in Oregon today is a direct result of that decision.
This is a high-resolution digital download of the photograph, made in Oregon — yours to print for your home or office, set as a wallpaper, or simply keep. The wide format suits a mantel, a hallway, or a desktop background particularly well.
What you’ll receive: a high-resolution JPEG, approximately 5504 × 3072 pixels — sharp enough to print at full photo quality up to about 18 × 10 inches at 300 DPI, and considerably larger for wall display. Delivered as an instant download the moment your order is complete.
License: Personal use only. Print it for your own home, use it as a wallpaper or screen background, enjoy it yourself. Not licensed for commercial use, resale, redistribution, or AI training. © Jonathan Swanson / JonSwan Productions. All rights reserved.