I’m indebted to a friend who lives a few miles out in the country for alerting me to the news that a fox family had taken up residence in a roll of round hay bales. He observed the kits (pups, cubs) frolicking around the area. I’ve been rewarded with some fun pics and memories as I’ve watched this litter of three grow.
Mom always keeps a watchful eye and one evening implied it was time for me to leave!
Here’s just a little bit of video of their play!
I had driven two hours to a spot that is known for being a winter habitat for bald eagles. I’ve been before but on Tuesday afternoon, the eagles were just not being cooperative and close up. I was about to go home when I stopped back by the location at which I had first stopped and within five minutes I was rewarded with the shot below.
Here are a few pics of another eagle, Ring-billed gull and American white pelican, that came as a reward for my patience.
This post is in response to WordPress’ Weekly Photo Challenge: Against the Odds.
Almost three years to the date, I mentioned that I was on a photographic hunt for the bald eagle. By the next year, I had more opportunities to spot and capture them at a distance. Finally, last year I saw hundreds at Red Rock Lake and the Des Moines River near Pella, as well as a growing population in my part of Southwest Iowa. This year is beginning well with sightings locally and around Central Iowa. The view of these majestic birds is captivating as they gracefully fly and skillfully hunt. Here are a few shots of these graceful, gliding national birds.
These two are from 2016:
Two eagles soaring over the Des Moines River near Pella, IA
The eagles complete for fish among pelicans, geese, ducks and the ring-billed gulls pictured here on the Des Moines River at the Red Rock Lake Dam spillway.
The remaining have been taken this first month of 2017:
Three shot photo stitch of juvenile bald eagle over Red Rock Lake Dam, Pella IA
As gracefully as they are in flight, those flights often end in a kill. Below is one of those feasts and two captures in the last week.
See more “graceful” posts at WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Graceful.
Rural Iowa Pastor 