RM Jones’ Adventure

January 26 - 27, 2008, was the “17^th Annual Bald Eagle Watch” at the Interstate 80 Welcome Center at Le Claire, Iowa. I live only about 15 blocks from it and had never been there. I usually intend to go but forget until it’s over. This year I made it and I’m glad that I did. I learned a lot about Bald Eagles and other birds of prey and had a fun time. The program was put on by a gentleman from the “Wapsi River Environmental Education Center” http://www.scottcountyiowa.com/conservation/wapsi.php , which I believe is part of the county conservation board, and a gentleman from the Army Corps of Engineers.The Bald Eagles congregate in this area around the ice free water near the damns and the main Mississippi river when it’s not froze. Their main food source is fish and they do a pretty good job of catching them. According to the information we were given, the Eagles will even try to steal the food from other Eagles. I bet that turns into a real argument and would like to see one give it a try. I learned so much it’s hard to know where to start so I’ll just give you some of the facts from my notes and the handout they provide.

The most important thing, at least from my point of view, is when a hunter shoots some game using a lead projectile and doesn’t recover it the dead animal it could pose a real threat to an Eagle. It seems that if an Eagle eats even a small amount of lead it could be fatal. Lead shotgun pellets are a real problem. I’m not sure if they even use lead shot anymore. But I don’t think they do in most states. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

A Bald Eagle reaches full size in about 90 days from hatching. I found that astounding. I had no idea their growth rate was that fast. An adult has a wing span from 6 to 8 feet. The male is the smaller of the two and he can weigh up to about 9 pounds while the female can get up to about 14 pounds. However, the skeleton of an eagle only weighs ½ pound. It’s made of hollow bones with bracing inside the bone for strength.

Bald Eagles live to be about 20 to 25 years old in the wild. At least one that was raised in captivity lived to be 50 years old.

For the first two years the Bald Eagle is a mottled brown color with a black beak and feet. At three years it gets a white belly band and at four years of age starts to get a white head and tail. They are ready to reproduce by the age of five.

Bald Eagles usually mate for life but if one dies the other will find another mate. The pair returns to the same nest year after year and each year they “improve” it. Bald Eagle nest are BIG. A nest in Ohio was measured to be 8 ½ feet wide, 12 feet deep and weighed 4,000 pounds. They will defend their nest from other pairs of eagles. However, some small birds that are two small to be considered a meal will actually build a nest in the sides of the Bald Eagles nest thereby gaining the protection of the eagle.

This surprised me; The Bald Eagle is only found in North America. I thought it was also in Europe. I guess I was wrong. That don’t happen often

There are now between 200 to 300 Bald Eagles between the Interstate 80 bridge and the Interstate 280 bridge here in the Quad-Cities. I had no idea there were that many and I live just a few blocks from the river.

A Bald Eagle has more than 7,000 feathers, which equals less than 21 ounces. Another interesting thing is that it is a crime to possess even one feather of a Bald Eagle without a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. So, if you find a feather that looks like it might come from a Bald Eagle you better just walk on by and not pick it up.

Pound for pound the eagles wing is stronger than an airplane wing. A Bald Eagle can strike prey with twice the force of a rifle bullet. That surprised me to.

After the presentation my wife and I went for a drive to find Bald Eagles. That didn’t take long. About three miles down stream we were at lock and dam 14 and there must have been about ten eagles of all ages in the air and we saw not less than ten more in trees in the area. After I took a few photographs we headed for lock and dam 13 on the Illinois side. During the presentation they told us there was an eagles nest near the road that could be photographed without bothering the eagles. I was amazed when we arrived at lock and damn 13. It appeared the air was filled with Bald Eagles. I don’t know how many were flying in circles right overhead but it had to be close to 80 or 100. There were Eagles EVERYWHERE. They were so low it appeared you could reach them with a long fishing pole. Really you couldn’t but they were low. The eagles were darting around all over the place. They would drop down to the water and back up just over our heads and this way and that. It almost got me dizzy just trying to take photos of them. It was amazing. The only problem is, It Was Cold up here. Lock and damn 13 is only about 15 or 20 miles North of my home but the temperature drop was scary. We stayed long enough to take the photos and back for home. I hope you enjoy the photos I have placed here.

I hope you enjoyed your visit today.
Please come back and see us again.
Bob Jones