NATURE CLICKS #464 - IMMATURE BALD EAGLE

Young Bald Eagle from 2020, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa

Normally I don’t walk right up to a raptor that close, but I didn’t see the juvenile Bald Eagle perched on a low branch in the tree until I was just in front of the bird. I showed a photo back in April of the adult Bald Eagle still sitting on the nest and probably keeping a young one warm (Click HERE if you like to see that post again). Well, less than three months later the juvenile has pretty much adult size. For the first four years of their life Bald Eagles don’t have the iconic white head and white tail feathers. I moved in slow motion after I saw the eagle and the bird accepted my presence for about fifteen minutes before it took off and flew to another tree.

For today’s “lunch walk” with our dog Cooper at Mud Lake, down at the Mississippi River, I took the long lens on camera with me. It proved to be a good decision again, although noon hour in July is often not the best time for wildlife photography. I didn’t see the parents at all today but I’m sure they still bring food to the young bird.

2017 RETROSPECT / 5

Male Orchard Oriole, 1st summer, near Durango, Iowa ----------     

May has been all about bird photography ones more for me in 2017. I don’t even have to go too far, things happen right here in our woods north of Dubuque, Iowa.

We usually see a large number of Baltimore Orioles stopping briefly on their long journey and eating from oranges we provide. Some of them stay here during the summer and raise their offspring. Not a daily event is the sighting of an Orchard Oriole. Last year we had more than ever before and it was fun to see both species at the same time. This male oriole was in its first summer and didn’t have the dark chestnut-orange color of its body yet as the adult males.

WAVED GOODBYE

Ruby-throated hummingbird, immature male

As every year it’s time to wave goodbye to the hummingbirds. They all migrate to Central America for the winter, making a nonstop flight across the Gulf of Mexico while relaying on fat reserves only. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the only hummer breeding east of the Great Plaines. I made a last photo of this immature male hummingbird Monday morning, just before I hit the road, kinda knowing that they might be gone after my return Wednesday night. The feeders are cleaned and will be stored in the basement until the end of April next year. We usually see the first one about May 1st every year. Can’t wait for this moment again...