Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The Eagles!

We had been told when we first came to Nauvoo that one of the amazing things we would see would be the hundreds of bald eagles that winter in nearby Keokuk. They apparently live right below the dam where they can catch lots of fish. Monday, we drove to Keokuk (to do our grocery shopping), and sure enough as we crossed the bridge we could see 20-30 of the flying around and once in a while swooping down to catch a fish, but they were too far away to get a good picture. We decided to drive down by the river and see if we could get any closer to them. At first, all we could see were geese, and ducks, but then I spotted 4 eagles in some trees right at the river edge. Unfortunately, I don't have a very good zoom lens, and the road was too far away to get a good picture, so I quietly got out of the car and started to walk towards the tree. One by one, they started to fly away, which was a beautiful sight because their wing span is to big....but of course my camera could not catch that!!!.....however two of them stayed and I was able to get a pretty good picture, at least for me!
One of them even looked right at me before finally flying away! It was an awesome experience. They are an amazing bird! Keokuk has an "Eagle Days" celebration in a couple of weeks...don't know exactly what they do, but I want to come over and see.


The geese....taking off. They didn't like their picture taken either!
The ducks....I can't understand how they can swim in such cold water...there was still chucks of ice floating around them!
The two remaining eagles...the one is right above the other, hidden by the branches of the tree!
Here he is....looking right at me....cool!!
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4 comments:

joan said...

We can't wait to see what wild life you discover next. What an amazing experience to be so close.

wendy said...

Neat pictures! As the girls and I were looking at these, it reminded us of the time 8 vultures stopped for a rest in our neighbor's tree. They were enormous. The girls got a kick out of it.

joan said...

Back again. Looking at these cold winter scenes makes me excited for the first pictures of spring pushing through the snow. It's coming soon. Are you feeling the days start to fly?

wendy said...

Hi Grandma-This is Alexa. I like the picture of the Bald Eagles. I miss you. I wish you were here. I think I might come to Nauvoo. I love you!!!