While driving on back roads Sunday Faith caught this out of the corner of her eye.

I think I'll let her drive more often.

Eagles Nest along the Mississippi River (the river is just behind the far stand of trees)


I think that's daddy standing on the branch. And you can see mommy's head peaking out of the nest. (Guessing the genders)



Nests are usual 5 - 7 feet across and 4- 12 feet deep. They can weigh up to a couple of tons.
These raptors mate for life, NOVEMBER - APRIL, and their eggs take about 45 days to hatch.
Two or three hatchlings are normal and they leave the nest about 75 days after birth.

Fascinating.

Fine...as long as she keeps her hands on the wheel and you keep yours on the camera.

after looking at the first picture i was going to request that next time you climb the tree for a better shot. then i looked at your next pictures and saw that you did this time

We were parked on the road about 90 yards away.

Using the H9 full (non digital) zoom I got the close ups. These two are crops of the original close ups.

The ones where I didn't shake the camera (even with IS) came out better than I had hoped.

i'm disappointed. i thought you might have learned how to climb trees while holding a camera. phred can do it

W W! Right time, right place!!! Good capture!

Well, you've gotta have Faith. I'm sure taking these pictures made your day.

Thanks to your explanation I learned something again today.

The Iowa DNR has a web site with a form you download and fill out providing information about these Eagles nests.
Although taken off the endangered species list, the Eagles nesting habits and whereabouts are still studied,
and although the DNR have mapped territories of general roosting areas displayed on their web site,
they prefer that the actual location of these nests be kept under wraps.

I just happened to be testing a new GPS application this day and was able to create a waypoint of the exact
Longitude and Latitude of this find for the Iowa DNR. I received a very nice thank you email for such detailed information.