Eagles at Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin

 In early January, 2024, I decided to take a chance and travel to Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin to see if there were eagles there, a place where I had been fortunate in past years to get some good photos of Bald Eagles in flight or snatching fish out of the Wisconsin River.

When rivers and lakes in northern Wisconsin freeze over, the eagles would migrate to the warmer areas of the state where they could find open water, especially around dams or rivers with shallow slow moving currents.

My  two-hour trip took me through some small towns and scenic landscapes dotted with dilapidated barns, huge meadows, and other photo-friendly points of interest, such as DQs, Culvers and gas stations with cheaper gas!

The main street in P du S is situated on the river and there's a viewing area with a telescope for close-ups of any eagles perched in a mid-river island tree. As I arrived at the viewing stand, I counted ten eagles in the tree and one flying over the river area as he looked for his breakfast. Today, his meal consisted of gizzard shad, a small silvery fish. When an eagle nabs a shad, he often eats it on his way back to his perch because other eagles might try to steal his catch mid-air.

On this day, there was a light wind and the river was very calm. This was perfect for taking shots of an eagle whose image was reflected in the water as if it was a mirror.

 

 

Three eagles on the island tree.

                                                                                                                                   

                                                               Reflected photos, et al:      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

               

Hope you enjoyed these!

Peacocks, Whoopers, et al

 A lot of time has passed since my last post and I now have some new photos that I think you'll like. Surprisingly, I very luckily came across an opportunity to photograph a white peacock, located at a property where several other peacocks strolled around the yard.

 According to Wikipedia,  “Leucistic peafowl can produce pigment but not deposit the pigment to their feathers, resulting in their blue-grey eye color and the complete lack of coloration in their plumage. Leucism is only partial loss of pigment in various amounts and is an issue at the pigment cellular level."

 

"The Whooping Crane is the tallest North American bird, named for its whooping sound. It is an endangered crane species. Along with the sandhill crane, it is one of only two crane species native to North America. The whooping crane's lifespan is estimated to be 22 to 24 years in the wild."  Wikipedia.  The following photos were taken at the Horicon Marsh near Waupun, Wisconsin:

 

 

Whoopers often sound off with a bugling type of song when they call to one another or when they want to warn other birds like Sandhills to keep out of their territory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                

Red Wing Blackbirds frequently attack large birds that get too close to their nests or simply invade their territory, and they are not intimidated by the very large whoopers.

These photos are of the young "colt" recently born to this nesting pair. Not sure why they are called "colt" but young sandhill cranes are also called "colts."

 

 

Sandhill Cranes

 

 

 

                                                           Cormorant with lunch.

This is an enhanced photo of White Pelicans.

They often hunt in groups like those above.

                                            Below is a trumpeter swan, barely awake.

 

 

 

 

More trumpeters.

 

 

Do you have any idea how long it took me to strategically place those droplets?

Two beautiful Great Egrets

                     This is what greets me when I arrive at the marsh at daybreak! 

Stay safe, everyone!

Belted Kingfisher

 Back for a new post...finally!

It's been a busy time since my last post, and I still have Blue Heron and Osprey posts ahead.

For the last month or so, I've been tracking a Belted Kingfisher bird, spending many hours trying to get some decent shots of this shy, skittish, beautiful bird.

Described online as a "large, conspicuous water-kingfisher native to North America" I would add that it has a rather unique, stocky body that supports a wild-crested head and thick beak that seem at first glance to be too large for its body.

                                      Let's face it...it's "Woody Woodpecker on Crack!"

The female kingfisher above sports colors and markings that are considered more beautiful than the male, pictured below.

The kingfisher measures between 11-14 inches, weighs between 4.0 and 7.0 ounces, flies at speeds reaching 26 mph, and has a wingspan of 19-23 inches. The song of the kingfisher has been described as "wild and rattling" and one usually hears the bird before seeing it.

                                                               

       

 It eats mostly minnow-size fish but I've seen it struggle successfully with larger fish that has to be "tenderized" by pounding it before swallowing.                    

The following photos are what I believe are the best of the hundreds taken:

 

 

Diving for prey.

Fact: The kingfisher nests, not in trees, but in tunnels it creates on the vertical banks of rivers and streams.

The tunnels are long enough and are sloped upward to form an air pocket for when the offspring arrive. (Kingfishers have two toes that are fused together, forming a web that aids with their digging.) Ah, Mother Nature!

 

 

The photos on the right and below show the male courting the female by offering her a piece of fish.  Unfortunately for him, she has a college degree and a rocking hairdo, so she decides to wait for a better choice.

                                                                                                                                                       

                                                   This is my favorite.

 

Postscript: Thanks to all (especially my wife) for the wonderful notes and letters sent to me during my Honor Flight experience! It was one of the most memorable moments of my life, traveling with my son and all the U.S. veterans to see the memorials in Washington, D.C. and returning to Wisconsin to receive the warmth and gratitude from hundreds of people who gathered to welcome us home! I will never forget it.

Winter Eagles 2022

 I normally make a yearly winter trip to the Mississippi River, usually to North Davenport, Iowa or to the Great River Trail along the Wisconsin side of the river in order to see the American Bald Eagles that come to hunt because of the open water in these areas.

This January, I went to Davenport again and was lucky enough to get some very nice pics of the many eagles there, but I also learned that eagles were also present at the Mequon-Thiensville dam. Naturally, I assumed they were there because our high taxes paid for the visit.

The following photos are a composite of eagle photos taken in Wisconsin and Iowa:

Eagles have the ability to size up its prey and immediately decide if it is too fat to eat. It chose the "no eat" option.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It settled for sushi.                                                                  

                                                                               

                             This is an immature bald eagle. It has about five years before it gets a white head and coloration of a mature eagle. In the meantime, because it's immature, it tries to steal prey from Mom and Dad, stays out past bedtime, and has been seen sneaking into an Eagles concert.

                                                     See what I mean about stealing?

                                          And the winner is....

                                Junior now has to steal from the crows.                                                     

 

 

              This was a lucky shot of a nesting pair of eagles. They are not always together, and often hunt on their own, so this pose was very much appreciated!

The next group of photos is a potpourri of eagle pics taken in the last few months:

  

A seagull was bullying this eagle, but only from a distance.

                        Note the color of the head and body of this juvenile eagle. There's some evidence of the white head beginning to appear.

      This photo was taken in Trempealeau, WI during last summer. Hard to believe this ugly  eaglet would grow up to be a beautiful, majestic bird. 

This is the head of the catfish the two eagles fought over.

         This juvenile has not quite mastered the art of fishing.

 

 

 

Junior managed to get a small snack to take to his roost.

One thing I noticed this year was that there are a lot of immature eagles around, and that means that the eagles are flourishing and a large crop of mature eagles will be here in the next few years.