Iowa
While on our way to Spencer Iowa we seen 6 large birds 4 with white heads and tale feathers sitting in a on county road B53 two miles west of M27
We stopped and took a better look and realized that they were bald eagles this was March 7th 2008 and seen 10 on the 14th in the same area.
Don&Vangie Cowen
My girlfriend and I were coming in to Sibley from the East and noticed a large bird flying above the Sibley, IA Central Park. As we got closer we recognized it as a Bald Eagle. Both of us are bird freaks and were pretty thrilled. It flew south and we lost sight of it. Just wanted you to know.
Gertie Chapman & Linda Obbink
I am so excited, I have seen my first Bald Eagle. My husband and I were a half mile north of Ashton, IA. We saw some large bird flying and beings that I am a bird freak, as my husband puts it, he said I'll bet it's a Bald Eagle. To my delight, and his, whether he'll admit it or not, IT WAS. It was alone but how beautiful. Ashton is in Osceola county.
Linda Obbink
Iowa - 16Feb 08 -Red Rocks Lake/Dam outside of Pella Iowa. Just south of the dam spillway my wife and I spotted 10-15 eagles, some soaring, about 9 in one tree, and one actually swooped down and caught a fish in front of all of us. There were probably 10-20 people walking around on the trails, and fishing on the banks. The eagles didn't seem to care as they continually flew overhead. Of the 10-15 we saw, only 5 or 6 had the white head and tail. The rest were the young "eaglets" with the expected patterns.
18Feb 08 - Saylorville Lake/Dam outside of Des Moines Iowa. Just south of the dam spillway I spotted 4-5 eagles over the Des Moines River... 3-4 of which were mature, one "eaglet." I then drove south and parked just east of the Des Moines River (the biketrail parking lot) off of 66th street just outside of Johnston. About 1 minute later a mature bald eagle flew right over head, traffic and all....spectacular.
Brian Moran
We go to lake almost everyday. Followinga few of our sightings.1-29-08 152 /1-31-08 155 /2-1-138 /2-7-08 105 /2 - 11-08 77 / 2-13-08 79 / 2-15-08 73 / great eagle year at lake red rock. Remember are eagle days 3- 1- 08 Indoor events at central college from 11am to7pm outdoor events at north tailwater from 9:30 to4:30pm vistor center from 9:30am to 6:00pm
Don and Marilyn Van Baale Red Rock Lake Eagle Lovers
We counted a total of 25 bald eagles along the Mississippi River on the west side of Davenport around the I280 bridge and along the river road. Several of them were young and their head had not turned white yet. They were very close and a great sight to behold.
Knoblochs --Goodfield, IL
I saw a bald eagle in Webster City, Iowa on 2-2-08 it was sitting in our neighbors tree. Yes i took a picture of it.
Brenda West
I saw a bald eagle in Webster City, Iowa on 2-2-08 it was sittung in our neighbors tree. Yes i took a picture of it . Brenda West
Last weekend on Jan 27,2008 and I took photography of eagles and at Cedar river Rd in Cedar Rapids, Iowa by roller dam and I saw 7 eagles on tree.
Robert Gruhn
January 11, 2008: We spotted 1 eagle flying, 1 in a tree and a few on the ice. Along The Great River Road between Keokuk and Montrose Iowa, which goes near the Missippi River we spotted 1 eagle flying, 1 in a tree and a few on the ice.
At Keokuk, from Victory Park, which is a few blocks below Lock 19, we spotted 4 birds roosting in the trees. This is the fartherest point in SE Iowa.
You can see close up live eagle at the Keokuk Mall Saturday and Sunday January 19-20. Go to http://www.keokukiowatourism.org/eagledays.htm for details.
Valeria Root, Fort Madison, Iowa
Afternoon of Dec. 14, spotted at least 3 adults and 1 juvenile fishing in Iowa River outside of Union, IA. Adults were also spotted between Union and Gifford, IA near Iowa River. I'll be taking a trip to Keokuk soon to view more of these amazing creatures.
Steve Longwell
My 10 year old son took a beautiful picture of a bald eagle just north of Correctionville, IA on Sat. Dec. 8, 2007.
Christal Reis
I've spotted 4 adult eagles at Saylorville lake, Iowa as well as 6 juveniles last Sunday(December 2nd)
Judd Furlong
I saw bald eagles along 14th street in Des Moines, Iowa near the Des Moines River. There were about 7 or 8 soaring high. Most were juveniles but I definitely saw 2 adults.
Jacquie Pierce
I spotted Five eagles today along the Great River Road between Keokuk and Montrose, IA; that is in SE Iowa along the Mississippi River. November 28, 2007. They were roosting in different trees along the way.
Valeria Root, Fort Madison, Iowa
We sighted a bald eagle today between Cushing Iowa and Correctionville Iowa. It was soaring over a empty corn field on the south side of the road at about 3:00 pm.
Laura Cvrk, Sioux City, Iowa
Two bald eagles sighted, both in the same tree, November 25, 2007, in the most SE corner of the state of Iowa on the Great River Road just above Keokuk's Rand Park and near the Mississippi River. It was snowing lightly and about 33 degrees. The river is not frozen at all yet.
Val Dupy
November 11, 2007
We sighted our first bald eagle today. It was resting in a tree along highway 62 just north of Montrose in SE Iowa. We were near enough to get a good look at it. It was definitely a bald eagle.
This road runs fairly close to the Mississippi River.
There will be more.
Valeria Root, Fort Madison, Iowa
Place: Des Moines River below the Red Rock Dam near Pella, Iowa.
Date: Jan 30, 2007
Number: 20 to 25 seen.
Date: Friday, Feb 17, 2007
Number: 5-7 adults, 5 Juveniles seen.
These eagles are skidish of people standing or walking about and will
quickly move up or down river. Most often they roost in the trees on
the west side of the river so view them from the east side.
Bryan Andersen
February 16, 2007
Today we were driving in Cedar Rapids near the Indian Creek Nature Center on Otis Road and saw 40 to 50 Bald Eagles flying very high in the air. Most of them were juveniles. We were quite a bit away from the water, mostly prairieland around us, but they seemed to be playing in the air. They would fly up to one another briefly to kind of check each other out then fly away again. There were more nearby perched in the trees. It was amazing to see so many birds in one area. They seemed to be coming from everywhere. It was also nice to be able to see them so close, we got many good views from below as they flew over the car.
Barbara Gilbertson
February 10
We took a drive today to check out the eagles. We use only the naked eye.
From Fort Madison, IA, Riverview Park, which is along the Mississippi River, there have been a lot of eagles the past week or two. The river is mostly frozen with some open pools of water. Today, I counted 30 eagles sitting out on the ice. More were flying around and a few were in the trees along the bank. It was reported in our local newspaper a few days ago that a 1 legged eagles was seen here. There was even a picture.
Further down the river along Highway 61 at Linger Longer park the water was complete frozen over and we saw no eagles.
Further downriver between Montrose, IA, and Rand Park at Keokuk, IA, we saw several sitting on the ice wherever there was any pools of water, a few were roosting in the trees and more flying around.
However, at Keokuk, IA, from Victory Park there was lots and lots of eagles. Never saw so many. That is just below the Mississippi river bridge and Lock & Dam #19. The water was open down the middle with ice still along the Illinois bank. I could see them sitting on the ice at the waters edge on that side. I counted more than 100 as we drove along the park. Must have been a distance of 1/2 mile. They were every few yards, either sitting along or in groups of 2 or 3. There were a few in the trees and more flying around. We were looking with the naked eye, as always. It wasn't really possible to get an accurate count. There were a lot of sea gulls flying around too, so at a distance it was sometimes to see which was which.
We continued driving south into Missouri on Hwy. 136 and turned off at Alexandria, Missouri. We drover over the levee to a restaurant called the Purple Cow. This is just a few miles downriver from Keokuk. The water was completely frozen over. We saw no eagles.
We turned off on Hwy 61, took Bus. Hwy 61 which goes along the river to check out the eagle population in Canton, Missouri.
Below the Lock & Dam there the water was completely open and there were a lot of eagles flying but few to be seen. No ice for them to sit on. Straight across the river we could see at least 4 in one tree on the other side. However looking downriver as far as we could see there was ice again and we could see some little specks on the other side that were eagles. They look like specks or black blobs from far away.
This is the first year I have eagle watched. I have come to the conclusion that the best time and place to see them is when the river is frozen over but there is some open water. They like to sit on the ice around the pools or by themselves quite a distance from the pool. We also find a lot of ducks, geese and sea gulls where there are pools of open water in the ice.
Valeria Root, Fort Madison, Iowa
I live in Cedar Rapids, IA and my husband loves bald
eagles well I had read that bald eagles could be found
here and i wanted to get some pictures. So we went
looking to see if we could find some. Well we had
success, We found about 6 to 8 bald eagles out here in
Cedar Rapids near the Roller Dam. I am really glad
that we saw them but it was getting dark by the time
we got close enought to get good pictures. So we are
going back tomorrow to get better pictures.
Amber Chapman
In northeast Iowa, eagle sightings are almost common. Two weeks ago we saw
roughly 10 at the Mississippi River bridge from Marquette to Prairie du
Chien, and that was before it got cold. My favorite place to watch is
Guttenberg at the Lock and Dam - if the river is frozen it's not uncommon to
see 50 or more. The first time I went I was in total awe. Since then I make
a couple of trips per year to the river.
John Jensen
Montrose, Iowa. January 17, 2007.
I saw 35 eagles roosting in the trees along the Great River Road between Keokuk and Montrose. Most often they were 3 to 5 in groups of about 5 to 20 feet apart in one tree or 2 adjacent trees. There were more soaring over the Mississippi river which we didn't count. The river was mostly iced over just above Lock & dam 19 and open water below. That is a prime area for seeing these majestic birds in the winter. A few of them did not have the white head. Were they golden eagles? They were roosting with the white headed ones.
Valeria Root
My name is Brant Mutch and I live in Des Moines, Iowa. I spent the afternoon with the family looking for Bald Eagles. We spotted 2 mature Bald Eagles and 3 immatures on Salorville Lake near Jester Park. This is where we have seen
Bald Eagles in the past.
I saw 7 bald eagles sitting on a tree together off of Route 67 on the west side of the street just north of Lock and Dam #14 just north of
Bettendorf, Iowa. This is my first time seeing bald eagles in the wild.
It was awesome. After I saw my initial 7, I started to notice quite a
few of them flying around the river banks on both sides of the
Mississppi. A woman at the Iowa visitor's center off of Interstate 80
mentioned that they congregate quite often around Lock's #14 and 15 over
the winter when the river fills up with ice. I'm going back with my
father and some friends soon.
Joe Trickey, DeKalb, IL
I've spent several hours at Carter Lake in IA by Eppley Airport the past few days taking pictures of, and just watching in awe as these birds feed. My wife counted 28 Eagles roosting in the trees at one point. I've attached a few pictures I took this weekend. Courtesy Larry Hefling
My family and I just returned from several hours of watching bald eagles roost, soar, and fish at Carter Lake, IA, which nestled right next to Eppley Field airport in Omaha NE. It was an awesome sight to see these majestic birds fly. I wish every American could get a chance to see them as it was our first time ever in the wild and a most memorable event. The white heads were quite distinctive and we were surprised at how far away you could actually see them due to that contrasting color compared to their dark bodies. We had a great time admiring the eagles and thought them stunning. Courtesy of Mr. Henson
We see about 250 bald eagles a year here on the des monines river in Iowa. Its a great sight to see. Courtesy of Heath Heemsbergen
I saw a bald eagle flying along US Interstate 280 on Christmas Day. We have a US Army Lock and Dam along the Mississippi, here, and in January, there are hundreds of young and mature eagles preying on the fish as they churn through the lock. Courtesy of Molly Cantrell-Kraig
I live in Southwest Iowa, about 25 miles south of Omaha, Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa.
My family owns a 30 acre lake which is just a few miles south of my house. The depth of the lake is extremely low due to the drouth. Because of this there are 100's of dead fish along the bank. Although I have seen some some bald eagles in the past few years around the lake, this past Monday,March 8th was a day to remember. We took a picture of 23 adult and immature bald eagles sitting in a tree and at the same time there were at least the same number of eagles on the lake. It was something to behold that many eagles sitting in one tree. We have eagles coming through each year following the geese.
Courtesy of Nancy Newlon
union slough NWR kossuth county Iowa. All the time while fishing march 15 Courtesy of kris gifford
DeSota Bend Wildlife Refuge Saturday March 6th we counter 11 Bald Eagles.
9 mature and 3 no fully colored out with the white head and tails. Courtesy of SANDY ROYER |