The Things We See ... Swans, Turkeys, Eagle vs Squirrel, Raccoon ...

Fresh snow... the sun is shining.
The lake has disappeared into the whiteness.

We are heading out to see whatever we see.

Here we go ~ 

First we head down to the Dam to see if the Bald Eagles are still here and maybe see the Herons, Pelicans, and whatever else...

We only saw a couple of Bald Eagles.

But we watched an amazing interaction between a Bald Eagle and a squirrel...

This crazy brave squirrel came face to face with this eagle. The squirrel ran up the tree above the eagle and looked down on him. The squirrel ran all around the eagle and the eagle just looked at him. Then the squirrel ran off. We were in awe as we watched and Richard got this photo.

There were no Herons, Pelicans or anything else so we headed up the River.

There are alot of these "camps" along the river but they are mostly only used during the Summer.

We weren't seeing any wildlife so we headed back to the main road.

I asked Richard to stop here so I could take this picture and I saw the eagles in the tree...

These 3 eagles were the only ones we saw in the area.

It looks like eagle season is coming to an end.

We headed back over the levee and across the "bottoms"...

We slowly snuck up (in the Subaru) on these "Redheads" to get some pictures.

I took this photo of a female surrounded by her male harem...

And then they flew off...

We decided to go further up north to the "Ursa Bottoms" and down to the River where I had not been yet. 

This is what it looked like...

But I thought I could see something out there...

And then we saw them...

SWANS!

Trumpeter Swans! in the harvested cornfields...

There were several families ~

I could have stayed there for hours taking pictures of them but we were just stopped on the road so we had to get moving.

A little further down the road we saw more...

This little family was much closer to the road so we were able to see them better and get better photos.

There were 4 youngsters, cygnets, and their parents.

Trumpeter Swans were hunted to the brink of extinction.

To see these Wild Trumpeter Swan families out in the cornfields was awesome!

We hated to leave but there was more to see...

We drove on... 

Taking the roads less traveled ~

Do you see the hawk on the pole?

We saw something else out in the cornfield and realized it was a raccoon. 

The poor thing was limping badly without using it's left hind leg.

 Richard was able to get these photos of it and when it looked at us 

we could see it was pretty beat up... it's poor little ears were really torn up. 

We watched it hobble off into the woods.

We continued down the road and spotted something ...

We couldn't tell what it was at first...

I looked through the lens and got it into focus ~ 

Haha! A CHICKEN! 

A couple of labbies came out to tell us we were not allowed to trespass on their property...

We let them know we respected their demands and they respectfully retreated.

I think this looks like a giant centipede...

It even has antennae :) 

We were really surprised to see even more SWANS!

There were so many we couldn't get them all in one picture. I counted 37?
Wow!
How awesome is that?
We saw probably 50-60 Wild Trumpeter Swans out in the harvested cornfields.
And that wasn't the end...

 This beauty was perched on one of those "centipedes" right next to the road.

We started heading back toward home on the highway and I saw my first
Wild Turkeys!

I hope to see more when it is sunny and we can get better pictures.
They are really pretty.
~
We were almost home and I was packing up the cameras when we spotted a large, beautiful,
 Red Tail Hawk perched on the fence post. Richard slowed down and I got out the camera. The hawk flew off but landed on a post just down the road. We got as close as we could and I focused the camera... Richard said "Wait... here comes another one!" Suddenly the second hawk swooped in and took over the post. This is the picture I got ~

The first hawk is flying toward us and the second one has taken over the post.
I guess we know whose territory this is!
What a great day!
It's always an adventure.
We are always surprised and we are always thrilled.
We share these adventures with all of you because we want everyone to appreciate the wildlife that is still here. Like the Trumpeter Swans and Bald Eagles that have both been on the brink of extinction.
Thank you for reading and following us.
I have changed the Facebook page to P and R Photography
https://www.facebook.com/pages/P-and-R-Photography/629150070438274?ref=hl

Much More Than Eagles

 Richard got a new camera to photograph the Bald Eagles.

But there is so much more beauty and wildlife to appreciate and photograph.

We went back to the River at the Lock and Dam.

The River was not frozen any more and there was no snow. 

Just some floating ice and a few Bald Eagles.
It was the Great River Bald Eagles Days so the viewing platform was open for us...

This is Lock and Dam 21. The Bald Eagles are on the other side of the Dam.

In this photo there are eagles perched on logs on the side of the dam and a few on ice.
Looking closer it appears this is the "Nursery"

And they were all taking baths

This is the Lock... where boats go through the Dam.

There is an eagle sitting on the ice ...

We watched the eagles from the platform for a while but there were too many people and too much noise so the eagles didn't come close.

 We saw this one catch a fish ... which is in it's talons in the next photo ~

  We went back every day and since there was no snow we were able to walk down to the edge of the River and get some beautiful pictures.

In the background of this picture is the Bridge.
While Richard was taking pictures of the eagles I was getting pictures of the Bridges.

Richard got some really amazing photos of the Bald Eagles...

And I took pictures of the River.

Am I the only one who sees a heart in that reflection?

That is Richard sitting on the rocks getting photos of eagles in the trees.

~

Do you see a tree... or a head? ...

Once you see the head you can't "un-see" it ... lol. (The roots are the hair)

Isn't this one of the most beautiful pictures you've ever seen? 

But I also love the herons and they were there too.
We watched as one dove into the water to catch a fish...

And swallowed it whole...

And fly off...

And with his new camera Richard got this beautiful photo...

It's been quite an experience to see the herons and the eagles sharing the trees.

I sat and watched this young Bald Eagle for a long time waiting to get a picture of him in flight. Richard walked up close to him and he just sat there watching us...

 Finally...

We were intrigued by these "ducks" (?) ...

Common Merganser
With brown heads and "bad hair" feathers. They swim around with their faces underwater.
And they run on the water when they take off...

We've been able to watch the eagles bathe...

He jumped in and out of the water here rinsing off his talons... And he was communicating with another eagle.
We have also been able to watch them clean their beaks...

Sometimes they are just funny...

Apparently they don't all like to share their branch

We feel so lucky to be able to see and photograph all these things.
We are learning so much about the Bald Eagles and all of nature.

And when the sun goes down there are the incredible sunsets...

So that is the end of January.

~

I am putting all of our photos on Patty Hagedorn Photography in albums.
If you want to see more of the Bald Eagles, the Herons, the Mississippi River,
and the world around us go to
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Patty-Hagedorn-Photography/629150070438274?ref=hl