MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2025 #1 - BALD EAGLES

Adult Bald Eagle, Mississippi River, between Sabula, Iowa and Savannah, Illinois

A quick trip along the Mississippi River down to Green Island and Sabula this evening led to today’s photo. A couple Bald Eagles had perched in the dead trees along the road between the Sabula island and the bridge that crosses the main channel of the river over to Illinois. It was obvious that 600 mm focal length would not be enough to fill the frame with an eagle, but adding the Nikon Z1.4 teleconverter to the lens gave me 240 mm focal length more. I drove back to the birds with the side window down and the camera already in my lap. Made sure there was no car behind me, stopped briefly, and fired a number of shots until another car approached from behind. The light about an hour before sunset was just gorgeous for this kind of a shot. Back home at the computer I still thought I had a little bit too much ’wood’ in the frame and finally cropped the photo slightly.

Most of the Bald Eagle nests I saw today had already a pair of birds in or near the nest. It’s a big joy to see how this majestic bird bounced back from being almost extinct not that long ago.

BALD EAGLES IN ABUNDANCE AND AN EARLY RETURN

Bald Eagle, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

Yesterday I received a message from a friend that the water was open down at the Sabula - Savannah bridge that crosses the Mississippi River and both sides of the road that leads to the bridge were filled with eagles. As wildlife photographers we have to take the opportunities when they occur and as the ice on the river disappears, many eagles quickly move upstream. I went down south this morning and the first chance came already while driving slowly through the Green Island Wetlands. There is a big solitary cottonwood tree next to one of the dikes and this adult Bald Eagle just posed nicely against a blue sky and the unavoidable clutter of small branches. This tree has served many times as a perch for eagles and other raptors over the years but it is in bad shape and might be gone sometime soon. I moved with the camera so the white head of the bird was in front of one of the bigger branches.

Bald Eagle, Mississippi River, Sabula-Savannah Bridge, Iowa side

Down near the Sabula - Savannah Bridge were still dozens of Bald Eagles. The downside is you can’t stop and park your car along the road that connects the Sabula island with the actual bridge, except for a small pull-out right at the bridge. I was lucky, one eagle had perched within the reach of my lens and this time against a clean background. Later I had some other opportunities but this was my favorite shot.

Sandhill Crane among Trumpeter Swans, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa, February 11, 2024

Hours later, on my way back home, I made another round through the Green Island Wetlands and had an interesting discovery. The ice where nine Trumpeter Swans rested earlier had melted and they were foraging in the shallow water of a flooded field. Among them was a solitary Sandhill Crane, searching for food as well. It moved with the swans and seemed to take advantage of whatever was stirred up while they swam slowly across the water.

At home I checked my digital photo library, going back to 2007, and can confirm, February 11th is the earliest I ever saw a Sandhill Crane here in eastern Iowa. Seeing them in March is not uncommon but this early was my first time. Other birders may have made a different experience and I like to hear from you about your observations in this area.

RETROSPECTS 2023 - #4

Juvenile Bald Eagle, Mississippi River, at Savannah-Sabula bridge, February 2023

It looks like only for the second time in twenty years we will not have any snow on the ground for Christmas. Snow is a great reflector of the light and can be very beneficial for our story telling about wildlife. In January / February the Mississippi had some ice cover but not as much as other years. Open water often attracts large numbers of Bald Eagles. I found a good spot near the Savannah-Sabula bridge down south for watching the eagles catching fish.

I made the click at the third attempt of this young eagle to pick up a small fish it had dropped on the older and snow covered ice earlier. The light was nicely reflected at the bird and I also liked the reflection of trees on the thin new ice in the background.

CATCHING AND DROPPING

Bald Eagle, Mississippi River, at the bridge between Sabula, IA and Savannah, IL

Nice weather again today made many people go out this weekend and look for Bald Eagles along the big river. The break-up of the ice on the Mississippi opens new opportunities for the eagles. They like to catch fish and more open water means more opportunities. There are some places along the river that the birds obviously prefer and visitors can watch a great show of performance sometimes. This adult eagle had picked up a fish from the ice that was dropped by another bird before.

This 2-3 years old juvenile had dropped a fish several times before finally claiming it. Dropping the catch often leads to a total loss because countless Ring-billed Gulls wait for their opportunity to steal a fish from the eagles.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2022 #2 - ACROSS THE ICE

Another trip today, heading south along the Mississippi River. No new snow recently, some warmer weather last week, and now real cold temperatures again made the ice everywhere looking different than a couple weeks ago. I watched a number of hawks again and had some of them even in the viewfinder. Distance was too big for my taste and instead coming up with a picture that is cropped to death, here are a couple landscape photos I shot this afternoon.

The direction of the sun reveals that I crossed the Mississippi down between Sabula, IA and Savannah, IL and pointed the lens towards the Iowa shore on the west side. With all the ice in the frame no negative exposure compensation was required to obtain this look with the silhouettes of reeds and the remains of water lilies.

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 66 mm, 1/800 s, f/16, ISO 100

On the way back across the river to Iowa you drive through Sabula, Iowa’s only town on an island. I’m always intrigued by their old style water tower and today light, clouds, and reflection of the tower on the ice were perfect for making a photograph.

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 70 mm, 1/100 s, f/16, ISO 100

TWO NICE ONES

Swing bridge across the Mississippi River between Sabula, Iowa and Savannah, Illinois

The Canadian Pacific Railway, who operates the rail traffic across the bridge between Sabula, Iowa and Savannah, Illinois, has some of the ugliest looking engines in our area. Most of them look very old and worn out. One reason why I hardly make pictures anymore of their trains.

Last weekend I made my usual stop at the railroad bridge and within a minute I heard a train slowly approaching, going eastbound. Big surprise, the train was pulled by two nice looking, fire-truck-red painted engines. A perfect scene with the blue sky above and some blue reflections on the water of the Mississippi. The trains cross the bridge very slowly, giving the photographer plenty of time to crank out a number of shots. The barge traffic on the river is just about to resume but during the winter trains are the most important means of transportation for grain, ethanol, coal, and other goods in the Upper Mississippi Valley.

If you missed my photo of the 115-year old swing railroad bridge two weeks ago, here is a direct link back to the previous blog post.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-120mm / f4, @66 mm,   @1/640s, f/8, ISO100

A FAVORITE SUBJECT

Railroad bridge across the Mississippi between Sabula, Iowa and Savannah, Illinois

Almost any time I drive south from the Green Island Wetlands to the little island town of Sabula, Iowa, in the middle of the mighty Mississippi River, I take a picture of the railroad bridge that crosses the big river. It is one of my favorite subjects along the river.

According to the bridge documentation on historicbridges.org , this is an unaltered example of a historic railroad bridge over the Mississippi River. Nearly all the historic railroad bridges on the Mississippi River are at a general risk for demolition or severe alteration. The bridge has a variety of pin-connected truss designs, and most noteworthy has a 365 foot (111 m) swing span. The engineer in my blood gives me always a great pleasure to look at this wonderful bridge and I see it almost as a duty to capture this interesting piece of our historic heritage whenever I have a chance. I’m afraid the day will come and “new economists” will win the claim that it is less expensive to built a new bridge than rather preserve the historic structure and find the money to built a parallel solution that can keep up with increasing loads and traffic. The old road bridge, 2.8 miles up the river, was blasted away not very long ago and is lost forever. I think my worries are not unreasonable…

Photographically it was not a big challenge, although with a blue sky it is easy to make a boring picture. A few flurry clouds and using the highlights on the turbulent water in front of me brought some dynamic into the frame. The color contrast between the bridge and all the blue does the rest…

CAN’T DO THIS ONE ANYMORE…

February 18, 2018

On February 18, 2018 I crossed for the first time the new bridge over the Mississippi River between Sabula, Iowa and Savannah, Illinois. I thought it was interesting to see both, the old truss bridge and the new one, side by side and so I stopped and made a few clicks. Since around 10:30AM today the same picture cannot be made anymore because the old bridge was demolished and imploded with a big BOOM and clouds of smoke and sits now in the river. I read that cutting apart the remains started immediately and the pieces will be transported away by barges.

I didn’t really plan to publish this photo here in the blog. I was a little sloppy while taking the picture, not paying enough attention to the details around the edges and a different view point would have been probably better. After reviewing my photos on the computer screen I thought even about going back and shoot it again. Well, it is too late now…😏

Below are a couple pictures I took almost three years ago when I heard for the first time that the old truss bridge will be replaced. I even wrote a blog post about it. http://www.exnerimages.net/blog/2015/4/7/mississippi-river-stories-2015-5

It’s good to have these images!

April 5, 2015

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2015 #5

It may not have been the right day, and definitely not the right time, to make the photos of the Sabula-Savannah Bridge that crosses the Mississippi River. No cloud in the sky and kind of a glare from the sun on everything is usually not what triggers my desire to shoot landscapes or architecture. But I heard on the radio, and later read an article on the web, that this 1932 built structure will be replaced with a new bridge,. Construction is supposed to start this summer and that’s why I made the shots while I was in the area anyway.

Shooting from the Iowa side of the bridge is only possible at the end of the causeway, where the bridge begins, because you can’t stop the car anywhere else. At least light was in my favor to render the blue color properly.

On the Illinois side it was easier to find different perspectives (and a safe parking spot ;-)  ), but shooting against the harsh early afternoon sun, well, not such a good idea. While I made the pictures I didn’t really think about black & white but later at home, in front of the computer, it appealed to me.

My engineering background makes me appreciate old steel structures probably a little more than most people. It is a pity that this old bridge has to go and different opinions about are discussed on the web. Our photographs can at least help to keep the memories about this part of the cultural heritage alive. I think we have a commitment to make the click…