Exeter’s photogenic eagles: Meet the man behind the ‘incredible’ photos

EXETER — If you walk along the river in Exeter, chances are you will meet up with John Saleda and his camera.

The 56-year-old retired police officer from Massachusetts can often be found along the wooden boardwalk behind Water Street or on the observation deck on Swasey Parkway with his eyes on the sky.

He was scanning the river recently from the observation deck by the flagpole, when he spotted one of Exeter’s now famous eagles, and ultimately snapped a shot that’s garnered a lot of admiration.

“I saw him coming over from the Parkway, straight down the river toward me,” Saleda said. “He came straight down the river, then he circled a couple of times.”

He tracked the bird through the camera, but there were utility poles in the background. But then, it happened.

“All of a sudden, he came in close, just like an osprey. He grabbed the lamprey (eel) out of the water mudline, so I don’t know if that lamprey got stranded there,” he said.

The massive eagle took flight, black lamprey hanging from its talons as it soared across the river, and Saleda was there for every bit of it.

“It was one of those moments where before something epic happens in your life; it all slowed down,” he said.

Saleda had invested in a new bigger (and heavier) lens, but is still adjusting, and says he usually nixes about 40 percent of the shots he takes with it. But on this day, he got the money shot. The Danville resident posted the photo to the Exeter Community Forum on Facebook.

“The feedback’s been incredible,” he said.

Cop's camera turns from crime scenes to nature

Saleda is one of a handful of local wildlife photographers who post to the forum, including others like Anne Dinan, who captured a shot of two merlins in a rather private moment recently.

Saleda moved to Danville two years ago as he prepared to retire from law enforcement after 28 years. Toward the end of his career, he became the department’s photographer, which was a world away from nature photography but got him behind a camera. He went through forensic training with a photographer who worked on a book about Jack the Ripper with author Patricia Cornwell and while he talked about crime scene photography, he also instilled the basics of general photography in Saleda.

“Honestly, I would say, I immersed myself in it,” he said. “I’m technically still learning.”

He bought some decent used camera equipment and transitioned to shooting his kid’s sports. “I was retired, I had extra time,” he said. “It’s very therapeutic.”

He really got into photography during the pandemic as it was something he could do outside while socially distancing. At times, it felt like something was calling him to wildlife photography.

“All of a sudden, I started seeing a lot of blue herons,” he said. “I’ve always liked them.”

It was almost serendipitous. “As a photographer, certain pictures or scenes resonate with you, but I just started seeing blue herons wherever I looked,” he said. “And then one day, I went to green herons. I call them otters with wings because they’re such characters.”

Exeter is ‘Newburyport done right’

Photographing owls and eagles was a natural progression, especially once he found downtown Exeter and the river.

“We discovered Exeter, and we loved the downtown. I say it all the time, Exeter to me is like Newburyport done right,” he said.

He met business owners, visited the shops, and talked with local chefs like Paul Callahan, who alerted him to the eagles along the river behind the restaurant. “Seeing the eagles will never get old,” Saleda said.

He also met the regular town walkers along the river. “Interacting with the walkers is the best,” he said. “When I’m out there, I probably talk to about 40 people.”

He started going out mid-winter to look for the eagles, when the river still had ice, and is still in awe at what each day brings. A seal that was seen earlier in the winter was back out last week for the first time in a long time. He notes how the influx of seagulls indicates an influx of fish in the river.

“When I was a little kid, I used to read Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone books about tracking. I’ve developed a keen sense of the animals’ habits. I give them their space but I’m very meticulous about noting the times I encounter them,” he said. “It’s persistence. For me, I term it as stubborn.”

The act of snapping photos is just one part of what he enjoys. “The most fun is when I load up my photos, I take thousands of pictures, I fill up a 256-megabyte card,” he said. “The feeling when you’re going through the pictures is the most satisfying.”

From those thousands of photos, he finds the best ones, then edits and crops them if needed. “That feeling to me is arm in arm with the satisfaction of the shot,” he said. “I get just as much enjoyment sitting there on the computer making sure it’s the best it can be.”

Photography is a shift from law enforcement, but for Saleda, it’s enhanced his life in retirement, and he has no plans of slowing down.

“To be honest with you, it’s been miraculous for me and the joy that I’ve gotten out of it,” he said.

But for now, he’s headed back to the river. It’s spring, the fish are running, and the birds are ready for his camera.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Retired police officer turned photographer documents Exeter NH eagles