Today's trip up the River Road was motivated by the PBS Nature program I watched this morning. It was about our beloved eagles and had beautiful footage. Scott had posted at EA that as he watched the program it reminded him of some of my photos. He also left the link to the program in full for those of us that were unable last evening to watch it. For that I say a double thank you Scott.

The Eagles I saw today were in groups and there were a few single eagles fishing alone. But if they caught a fish it was not long before another eagle flew by and tried to steal the fish. Fishing looks to be hard work not just catching the fish, but keeping it.

The weather was quite brisk with a cold wind and snow flurries. It is amazing how the eagles enjoy sitting on the ice. Some are fishing, others are eating and some of the groups were just sitting. There were also a few Trumpeter Swans and Canada Geese sleeping or resting in the icy water. i have photos that includes most of the above. I hope you will enjoy them.

This first group of photos is of an adult eagle who I saw go diving for a fish in the river. It then flew to a tree and started to feast on its catch. I got a few shots and then it flew to another tree to finish the fish off. I followed, that poor eagle could not eat in private.

The last set of photos is of a sub-adult eagle or an adult that has been in the mud, its feet are covered with dried mud. It was perched all alone and I felt sorry for it being by itself. Of course it may have been happy that way.:dunno: It sure was not frightened by me and allowed me to take several photos.

I have a question to ask. The eagle in the last few photos I assumed was a sub-adult, but after looking at the bird closer, could it be an adult? If you look at it's feet and talons they are coated with dry mud. Also it has adult white tail feathers. The dirty look at the beak and around the eyes could be dirt left from dried mud. There are several slough areas near to where I took this photo and the water level is very low. I did see other eagles in these muddy areas. What do you think? Is the eagle in the last few photos a dirt covered adult or a sub-adult? Here is the photo again, be sure to check out the dirty feet.

This group of Trumpeter Swans were sunning and sleeping on the ice. The one looks like it did a slide on the ice while attempting to walk.