Category: Eagles - Bruce G. McKee Photos

Eagles on the Iowa River

1/23/2021

A Bald Eagle banks in to the wind to swoop down to a fish in the river.

We have Bald Eagles in north Iowa, but they are scattered, generally around one of the rivers or creeks, but not in large numbers in any one location. In the Winter they tend to bunch up along the larger rivers, the Mississippi, Des Moines and Iowa rivers and as the rivers start to freeze over more Eagles can be found around the dams. I shared Eagle photos from the Coralville Dam area a few weeks ago. This week there were very few Eagles there so I went a little farther down river in to Coralville at the dam adjacent to the Iowa River Power Restaurant. There is a walkway along and over the river and it is a great place to take photos either above or below the dam of Eagles as they are perched in the trees and soaring down to the river to grab a fish. On occasion there are great aerial displays as two or more Eagles will fight over a fish in mid-flight. I never get tired of the challenge of getting a good photo of an Eagle in flight.
[Click the images to see larger]

A Frosty Morning

1/4/2021

Jack Frost painted his magic across north Iowa again last night. What a beautiful day. With thick fog and below freezing temperature the frost grew on everything. We drove around for many miles and there were thick frosty trees, shrubs, grasses and fences everywhere we went. I don't usually post a bunch of photos at one time, but I couldn't help myself. Click or tap to flip through the images. Enjoy. [Click Images to see larger]

New Year's Day River Float

1/2/2021

Dale Mills and I started out the new year with a bit of paddling on the Winnebago River down river from the discharge area of the water treatment plant. We made it 1.8 miles before we got to ice-over, but it was at a convenient take-out place to get a ride back the vehicle (Judy's shuttle service). It was a beautiful day, overcast but with no wind and mid 20's temperature. It was a quiet float except for hundreds of noisy Canada Geese and ducks. We saw wild turkeys in trees and along the river bank, five Bald Eagles, a Kingfisher that flew from tree to tree just ahead of us down the river and 13 Trumpeter Swans that got up off the river and flew noisily right over our heads. A great way to start the new year!
[Click or tap to see the individual images larger.]

Coralville Dam Bald Eagles

12/31/2020

Click to see larger

December 31, New Year's Eve day, the last day of 2020 I headed to the Coralville Dam on the Iowa River to take photos of Bald Eagles. They often fish in the tail-waters below the dam at this time of year and the past few weeks has been pretty good for photographers, until I got there anyway. This Eagle on the left was perched in a tree overlooking the water along with about half a dozen others in nearby trees. Along with a few other photographers we watched and waited for a couple of hours hoping they would fly down and grab a fish right in front of our cameras. Well, they didn't move. Not at all. I finally moved to another location farther down where the river was wider and got a few photos, but the Eagle were farther out from the shore. When I left, four hours after I arrived, this Eagle on the left was still perched on the same branch.
[Click images to see larger]

Sax-Zim Bog

12/5/2020

Photo of an American Pine Marten

American Pine Marten

I have been to the Sax-Zim Bog area northwest of Duluth, Minnesota several times. (You can use the search box on this site to search for Sax-Zim Bog to see previous posts.) On this trip I was fortunate enough to spend some time photographing an American Pine Marten, a ferocious predator, a member of the weasel family about 24-30" long. I also saw a white Ermine (Black-tailed Weasel). They run really fast and are hard to photograph. People flock to the bog area in the winter time to see Great Grey Owls, Northern Hawk Owls and Snowy Owls. I did get photos of one Great Grey late in the day a little after the sun went down, but I missed the other owls (they don't seem to let us know where and when they will be available for photos). I saw a nice Rough-legged Hawk sitting on the top of a tree and snapped a few photos just as it launched off the top. Some of the other birds I saw are below and identified in the captions. I didn't go to all of the feeder areas so I did miss some of the smaller winter birds, but over-all this was a good trip.

Click images to see larger.

Photo of an American Pine Marten

Photo of an Ermine (Black-tailed Weasel)

Photo of a Red Squirrel sitting on a small tree branch.

Photo of a Red Squirrel

Photo of a White-tailed Deer doe

Photo of a Rough-legged Hawk flying

Photo of a Bald Eagle perched in a tree.

Photo of a Great Grey Owl perched in a tree at dusk.

Photo of a male Pine Grosbeak perched on a branch.

Photo of a female Pine Grosbeak perched on a branch.

Photo of a Hairy Woodpecker

Photo of a Blue Jay perched on a branch.

Photo of a Gray Jay perched on a branch.

Photo of a Gray Jay perched on a branch.

Photo of a Red-breasted Nuthatch perched on a branch.

Fall Canoe Float

10/9/2020

Yesterday was the most beautiful, calm fall day for paddling the Winnebago River with good friend Dale, co-owner of the Cupola Inn Bed and Breakfas t. The colors of the Ash and Silver Maple trees were brilliant, with spectacular reflections in the slow-moving, calm water. Besides taking time for photos we spent a lot of time just floating and enjoying the view. We really were in awe at such a perfect, beautiful day. We saw several eagles, two owls, Canada Geese, and a Kingfisher bird that was just taunting me, continuously flying just a head of us all the way down the river, just a bit too far to get a close-up photo. I did get a couple of photos of two of the eagles though.
Click images to see larger.

Snyder Bend Wildlife Management Area

3/9/2020

While out in the Sioux City area this weekend I took a few hours to visit the Snyder Bend Wildlife Management area south of Sioux City, IA, a horseshoe bend part of the Missouri River. There were lots of birds moving around. Several Bald Eagles, Wood Ducks zooming around like fighter jets, many other ducks and plenty of Canada Geese. It was a nice day for a walk with the camera to snap a few photos.
(Click images to see larger)

Zirble Slough

7/29/2019

Cerro Cordo County Conservation is draining out all of the water from Zirble Slough to allow aquatic plants to get re-established for a better environment for birds and wildlife. Then they will allow it to naturally fill again. As the water is very low for awhile it has been full of shorebirds pecking in the mud for insects and whatever else they eat. There was a lot of wildlife there the morning that I visited.
[Click images to see larger]

Iowa Raptor Project

10/5/2018

I had an opportunity to photograph the resident education birds at the Iowa Raptor Project near Solon, IA and Lake MacBride State Park. Each bird has a unique story of how it was injured and can't be returned to the wild. They are now education birds open to the public to view the birds and learn about raptors. This is a joint project of Kirkwood Community College and The University of Iowa Recreational Services. [Click the images to see larger and read the descriptions.]

Bald Eagle photo

Bald Eagle photo

Great Horned Owl photo

Great-horned Owl photo

Barred Owl photo

Red-tailed Hawk photo

Harris's Hawk photo

Peregrine Falcon photo

American Kestrel photo

American Kestrel photo

American Kestrel photo

American Kestrel photo

Turkey Vulture photo

Voyageurs National Park 2018

6/5/2018

Common Loon - Voyageurs National Park

Once again on my annual fishing trip to Voyageurs National Park in Northern Minnesota I was able to get a few photos of Common Loons, Bald Eagles and ducks all taken from the boat (thanks to willing boat captains who took a slight break from fishing so that I could snap a few quick shots.) The photos of the Common Mergansers below were a bit of a surprise as I looked at the photos because the drake had fish line wrapped around its beak and may have been unable to eat. I sent the photos the the National Park Service office at the park in hopes that they could use it as a part of their education efforts to remind fisher-persons why they shouldn't throw used, tangled fish line in the lake.
(Click an image below to see larger.)

Previous Blog postings about Voyageurs National Park:
Bald Eagles in Voyageur's National Park
Voyageur's National Park - Loons and more
Loon in the Morning
Common Loons

EagleFlight Video

11/22/2015

Video of a Bald Eagle in Flight during the Raymond Barlow Raptor Workshop at the Canadian Raptor Conservancy near Simcoe, Ontario. The falconers flew the Eagle across the pond several times rewarding him with a tasty treat each time. I don't remember the exact camera settings. It was a 10-22mm lens on a DSLR and slowed down to half-speed in the editing.
(Due to goofy YouTube stuff it may go to another video after viewing. Reloading the page should get you back here.)
https://youtu.be/McsrwaV2zOs

A few Birds

6/11/2015

These were taken a couple of weeks ago near Park Rapids, MN. Left to right -
1. The Osprey nest is on the top of a power pole next to the highway. I had stopped on the opposite side of the road to take pictures from the sunroof of the car with the telephoto lens and was lucky enough to get the male returning to the nest with a fish in his talons to feed the chicks.
2. There is an Eagle's nest on an island on a small lake. From the canoe I took photos of one of the adults perched on a nearby tree in the evening. Hand-holding the big telephoto in a moving canoe was challenging.
3. While paddling a bit further I spotted a Kingfisher. Just as I quickly snapped a few photos a second Kingfisher flew through the frame and they both flew off. Kingfishers are very wary around people and I felt very lucky to get any photos.
4. A great Blue Heron flew over the lake while we were in the canoe.
Click an image to see larger.

Eagles Nesting

3/15/2015

I went to visit the local Eagles yesterday and wasn't disappointed. In the afternoon sun I was able to watch as one sat on the nest while the other flew back and forth with more nesting material. The grand kids were pretty excited to see the Eagles and got some nice pictures also.
[Click the images to see larger]

Nature Travels - Video

1/16/2015

When I am out photographing birds, wildlife and landscapes I occasionally shoot some video at the same time. Here is a little video sampler of some of our photo adventures over the past few years. The still photos can be found throughout this web site.

Nature Travels with Bruce G. McKee from BruceGMcKeePhotos on Vimeo.

Eagles on the River

12/29/2014

I went to visit the local Eagle's nest yesterday and wasn't disappointed. There were two adults and at least one juvenile. From the car I was able to take a few photos as they flew up and down the river several times (terrorizing the ducks). Like visiting old friends - great to see the Eagles.