Subjected to the Eagle Eye View

(Grafton, IL US) Sannibel the Southern Bald Eagle peers into the camera lens during  the yearly eagle presentation  at Pere Marquette State Park.  Every year thousands of people come into the area to see American Bald Eagles that have migrated along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers to escape the harsher northern winter.

Every year there is a program at Pere Marquette Park State Park about eagles and other birds of prey.  This year they set up in a dark corner of the fabulous lodge building that was built during the Great Depression.  It was very dark and people were crowded many people deep and despite being tall and having long arms, there really wasn't any way to capture anything good from behind the mass of people.

There is a restaurant in the facility that has a door that opened directly behind the bird on its perch and as I gently opened that door the bird hopped around on the perch and squatted a bit to get a view of me as everyone was trying to photograph the bird from the other side.

So yes, I really did have the eagle eye on me for a while.

The Eagle has Landed!

(Grafton, IL USA) People inside the Pere Marquette State Park Visitor Center watch the video screen as a remote camera located high in a tree shows the first American Bald Eagle returning to the nest for the 2012 season.  The nest is located approximately 100 feet above the bank of  the Illinois River in Jersey County Illinois.

It's that time of year again when you need to be really careful.  Careful of the person in the car driving in front of you as they slam on the brakes because they see an American Bald Eagle in a tree.  Every year the eagles come south because of ice that generally covers the rivers where they normally catch fish.  The area close to the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers is prime eagle watching territory.  Thousands of people travel to the area every season to see the eagles.

The eagles are opportunists and the photo below is of an eagle that was feasting on a road kill Whitetail Deer near a cornfield.

(Calhoun County, IL USA) An American Bald Eagle takes to flight after feasting on a Whitetail Deer carcass.  While eagles are thought by most people to be fish eaters, eagles are opportunistic and will feed on most any type of meat or fish that it may find.  Eagles have also been known to take small dogs, cats and squirrels.