A PERSISTENT photographer has captured fascinating images of bald eagles from just feet away - by standing totally still for more than 30 minutes.

Scottish photographer Graham McGeorge was once told by a fellow photographer he should visit Homer in Alaska, USA, if he wanted to photograph them in numbers.

After a few years of saving, he finally visited the area and was directed towards Anchor Point Beach where he was greeted by dozens of the birds majestically swooping along the shoreline looking for their next meal.

Just half a mile offshore, a boat of fishermen was making its way back to the beach - and after getting back they tossed the fish remains onto the beach, sending the eagles into frenzy.

Mr McGeorge, who now lives in Jacksonville in Florida, said: "There aren't many places in the US you can find large numbers of these raptors, never mind getting close to them. The usual photographs are in flight far away and nest shots taken from afar. They got so close to me in Alaska that my 600mm lens was actually way too much glass for the task at hand.

"Whenever I travel to pastures new I do my due diligence with researching books and web pages but always rely on asking the locals. I was in a local shop and asked the owner where I could find bald eagles and in the flip of a switch with no hesitation I was told Anchor Point Beach, just 12 miles up the road.

"After arriving on location I know she had led me to the honey hole.

"There were eagles everywhere."

He said he approached the beach cautiously and added: "I thought I had blown it but then started to realise after I had been there standing still for around 30 minutes they were starting to come back. I had become a piece of the landscape.

"I spent the next several hours in my glory, photographing my favourite bird.."

The bald eagle is the national bird and national animal of the United States. They were taken off the endangered list in 1995 and off the threatened list in the lower 48 states in 2007.