Eagle Trip

For our anniversary we had decided to take an over-nighter to the Quad Cities.  This includes Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline in Illinois, on the Mississippi.
We were not disappointed in seeing eagles.
It was amazing.

In the past we had found a few spots to observe birds and we were not disappointed.
Here you can see the eagle pyramid. 

I have a new camera, that I am trying out. Still have a lot to learn, but did have fun using it.

Saw mallards and domestic mallards.

Deer

What an education this trip was.
We were able to see the different phases the eagle go through before becoming full adults.

An adult and a juvenile that were feasting on something on the ground.

Here are a couple more juveniles.

The trees were full of eagles.

This looked like one shaggy bird!

And eventually become this!

This was a partial scene on Rock Island.

Another view on Rock Island.

How about this adult with two juveniles.

He was just landing.

We saw this pack of coyotes on Rock Island.

It was amazing to see all these beautiful, powerful birds.
A few more pictures tomorrow.

I have to admit, since I have started this adventure of birding, I have learned a lot, and have lots more to go.  When you see the birds that come to your feeder, you see relatively small birds. They nest, have their babies, and the babies become big and it does not take a long to become an adult.
The big birds is a different story.  I did not realize it takes several years for them to grow and reach adulthood.
All birds have to learn to take care and feed themselves. The small birds become adults much faster  then the big ones.  We have had two pair of cardinals that have stuck with us this winter.  On our trip home yesterday, I did see some blackbirds at a distance.  Don't know what type.
It appears the migration has started.  The eagles we have been seeing along the Fox River, are becoming fewer. So are the Canadian Geese.
Mary