I'm Back and So Are They!

You know it's funny that I had no problem filling my hiatus from the computer world since my MacBook Pro spent over a week awaiting repair.  It must have been these "heavy" blog entry topics that overworked the 3 year old hard disk. (Now that's a laugh, eh?)

I have spoken about the tundra swan migration that attracts more than these birds to the upper Mississippi region. Remember I commented on the photographers that arrived with the big cameras. Well last week as I was heading 'into town' (that would be La Crosse) there sitting at the new bird observation area was not one of those humongous lenses but a double set up. Now that looked real serious. Part of me wanted to pull over and just figure out what they were looking at since the majority of the tundras had taken off right after Thanksgiving... Hmmm?

I did my errands and upon my return, lo and behold there still sat the camera and two guys sitting on folding chairs.  Of course curiosity got the better of me and I pulled over ... Well you just never know until you ask, right?

One of the men was from the area but the other, a young cutie had an English accent. ( Did you ever notice accents add to the cuteness?) I started the conversation with the lame weather topic but it  really was unseasonably warm and how the tundra flocks had certainly diminished since the previous week.  We even had had a 'couchsurfer' from Ohio who had come to photograph the swans and almost missed them due to the sudden cold snap. Well it turns out that these guys were not really interested in the tundras right now as they are filming a documentary for BBC Discovery Channel on the life of the eagle on the Mississippi. Isn't that cool?

We spoke about the increase in the eagle population as there are now at least five nests near End of the Rainbow Valley. Back in 1978 eagles were rare and declared an 'endangered' species. I had seen at least a dozen eagles catching the wind and soaring amidst the bluffs en route to town that day.  During our conversation I learned that eagles have definite schedules so these guys knew when activity would pick up on this river spot again.  I was really glad that I took the time to stop. The young guy will be starting his next project on dolphins and will be filming in Australia. Wow nice job.

It turns out our Ohio couchsurfer from the previous week had actually caught some beautiful eagle shots and I am so glad to be able to share this one with you. What magnificent birds... the American Bald Eagle.    
                   
                                               Welcome back to our Nation's Bird!

Immature and Mature Eagle Pair taken by Pete Conrad

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