Eagle Pics

This post has been delayed by several months.  We just found a USB cable that would work for downloading pics from our super fancy camera.  Of course, John's newer computer has an SD card slot, whereas I have to download the old fashioned way.  Don't let the bitter cold gray pics fool you...it's greener, brighter, and more flowery now in the QC than the pictures display.

So the back story is that when it gets colder, we have a migration of bald eagles come through the Quad Cities.  Usually the ground is frozen and/or covered in snow, and so they start to prefer to fish out of the river.  These pics were taken out by Lock and Dam 14.  (For reference, Lock and Dam 15 is located adjacent to Rock Island Arsenal.)

(If you care.)

They like to hang around these Lock and Dams because fish get churned up downstream of the dam and it makes for easy fishing.

Of course, it's also easy fishing when you have photographers lining river and throwing in frozen fish to get good shots of flying eagles.  They had lenses the size of my arm.  I had our new Nikon D3100, and a small zoom attachment.  John purchased it as a Christmas present for "us" with his miles and some supplemental funds.  (He had a lot of miles, but not enough to fly us anywhere good.  When we wanted to travel.)

(If you care.)

He can also claim some sort of photography background, as he took pictures for his school paper in college.  I took 2 photo classes in high school.  I fancy myself the artistic type, but truthfully, I know I suck.

As it was butt ass cold when we took the pictures, John stayed in the truck where I braved the weather to take pictures of the eagles.  (so that's what you get!)

I loved them.  They are so large, and so beautiful.

Here are the eagles perched in a couple of trees.

Random eagle factoid #1:  Female eagles are larger than males.

Random eagle factoid #2:  From ages 1-5 years old, juvenile bald eagles are mistaken for golden eagles because they don't yet have the trademark white head and tail feathers.  (I believe you tell them apart by the feathers on their legs.  Bald eagles have feathers, while golden eagles do not.  Don't quote me on this - I learned these factoids at a luncheon in January.)

Random eagle factoid #3: Eagles like to return to their same nests year after year.  They will return to the same nest and add more and more nest material to it year after year.  There is a nest in Florida that weighs close to 90 lbs!

Soaring.  Have I mentioned it's difficult to focus on a flying object against a  gray sky?

Coming in for a landing!

Random eagle factoid #4:  Sometime last spring, John went outside to use his grill and found a dead fish on his patio.  I think an eagle dropped it there.  I also think he was making a request to have it grilled as long as John was out there grilling his meal.  Everyone knows eagles prefer grilled fish.
(disclaimer:  no one knows if eagles prefer grilled fish.)

Random eagle factoid #5: Eagles have fantastic eyesight.  In fact, if you could put a newspaper on one side of a football field and an eagle directly across from it, that eagle could read the paper!  (If eagles knew how to read.)  (this one is true.  They can see with great detail even at fantastic distances.)

I know it's out of focus!  It's still cool.  (dammit)

This was just a few short days later when we didn't technically get much snow...but the wind blew it all in front of our house!

In the meantime, I'm reading books and practicing with the fancy new camera to be able to take wonderful pictures whilst we are stationed in Europe.  I promise that the photos will get better!