The eagle’s nest

This December morning is still a bit grey, and chilly as a scent of coffee starts to fill Conny Lundström’s kitchen in Kalvträsk. The winter sun seems to be in no hurry to make an appearance. Wildlife photographer Conny has a sip of coffee. Yesterday, on a private reconnaissance to his eagle hiding place, he found a white-tailed eagle and three golden eagles there.
— I got some nice shots, then I had to drive to Umeå for a meeting.
— Wow, that sounds great.
— But I’m not so convinced about today, to be honest. The weather is too nice. But tomorrow, when it’s snowing, I think it might be good.
— You think so?
— Yes, but it’s impossible to predict these things with certainty. After all, it’s wild animals and nature.

More than 25 years

But if you had to ask someone to make a prediction about the golden eagle, Conny Lundström would definitely be a safe bet. For more than 25 years, golden eagles and their habitat have shaped his life to a great extent.

A little while later, we are sat in his car, driving on forest roads beyond Kalvträsk – the place where he was born and a place that he has placed on the map in more ways than one. It has been snowing a lot, and the beginning of winter is lovely.
— I like this time of year when it comes to photographing from a hide. The days are not that long.

Life changing

In 1996 Conny took a picture that would change his life. He had always loved working with photographs and travel photography. His first published photo was taken at Trafalgar Square in London. He actually had no ambitions at all to become a wildlife photographer.
— But I started bringing my camera when I was hunting elks and other animals. After a couple of years, I realised I was sat aiming my camera more than I was my gun. I’ve sold all my weapons now.
— I guess it’s the kind of journey some of us do. For me, it became natural to take pictures of game instead of taking it down.

The picture that changed Conny’s world had a lot to do with the fact that he had seen a tree where he wanted to capture a golden eagle. One day, after he had been able to lure the eagle there with food, the light was absolutely perfect. He took the picture, and he liked it.

But even so, it was left lying around at home, for several years. Others also thought it was beautiful, and his friends said he should send it to a competition arranged by BBC Wildlife.
— I hadn’t even heard about that competition. But I sent it in in 1999, and a couple of months later a letter came from BBC Wildlife that said: “Congratulations Mr Lundström, you have won Wildlife Photographer of the Year”.
— It definitely means something, for sure. Besides, it was a really good start for my new company focusing on guiding and eagle hideouts to win the prize and then be featured in a big article in BBC Wildlife Magazine.

Wildlife photographer of the year

The picture was included in the book Wildlife Photographer of the Year, also produced by the BBC and the Natural History Museum, together with photos taken by other famous photographers who were presented with prizes that year. Conny’s photo was awarded best portrait, but there are several categories. When the BBC later did a ‘Best of’, featuring 20 years of the competition, his picture was chosen again, as well as photos by photographers such as Tim Laman, the Pickfords, Frans Lanting, Jim Brandenburg, Jan Töve and many other very famous people. That brilliant book is called Light on the Earth. It is an amazing journey for a picture that was left in his home office for three years.

These days Conny’s hiding places in Kalvträsk are among the world’s safest bets if you want to have a close encounter with an eagle. But why eagles?
— I don’t really have a good answer to that. I was taking pictures of cities and travels. But then I realised it was something extraordinary. It’s such a special bird. Some individuals I’ve followed for nearly 20 years.
— The golden eagle is also top of the chain, which is a bit special. Other birds and animals respect it, and when two eagles meet, there is always a hierarchy, even if it’s a couple.
— When you’re sitting watching a golden eagle, it always surprises you how sneaky they are, how much wild is left in the eagle. It’s fascinating.

Building trust

The reward is actually the same, whether it is an eagle or squirrel. That wait to capture an eagle, a squirrel, or a salmon is the same. When it happens, it is how long you have waited that determines the size of the reward. In Dani’s case, it was about staying in Kalvträsk longer than she had planned, and that she did not have the patience to sit inside a hiding place every day. She wanted to create her own style of photography.
— Yes, that’s how it is. When I came to Kalvträsk, it was to take a photo of a golden eagle. Conny has built a company as well as the eagles’ trust over the years, and I felt it was a bit the same with my squirrels. I wanted to learn more about them, and I wanted to interact with them.
— But then a tragic accident occurred, and suddenly I had four little kits that I needed to build trust with and simply save them. It took a very long time. I slept in a tent next to their tree for two weeks. That’s how long it took before I could even go outside, and they stayed without scaring them. It was special.

Eagle hides

Conny’s eagle hideout is located at the edge of a mire some kilometres from Kalvträsk. This is one of several hiding places. But it might be the most productive. He took his winning picture by this mire, and it is part of at least three eagle couples’ territories. They can easily come sailing in for a snack. We make a fire in the fireplace in the corner of the timbered cabin. It is not a luxury; it is purely functional. There are eight camera holes here and a simple outhouse.
— I guess we’ll make an espresso in a bit. Let’s see if something happens. Sometimes the eagles are sat there straight away in the morning. Sometimes you have to wait until after lunch. You can’t really predict anything other than the ravens letting you know if things are about to kick off.

Conny has a lot of stories to tell about eagle encounters. He has so much experience photographing them that it’s difficult to take in.
— How many eagle pictures have you taken? Conny laughs:
— I probably have tens of thousands that I’ve never even looked at.
— So perhaps there is another BBC winner buried there on a hard drive?
— Not really. As a photographer, you pretty much know immediately if you’ve captured something really good. But I do have a lot of pictures that many would dream of having, for sure.