Back at the Camera Again

It's been a long time since I birded or posted to this blog, but we've spent more time as grandparents and entertaining for the holidays, so sorry 'bout that. But this weekend will make up for the lack. It's Eagle Weekend at Kentucky Dam Village State Park on Kentucky Lake. RROKI is doing the program this evening, but the rest of the time is our own. I've become a big fan of Jim Johnson (http://goatsass.com/blog/) who lives down here and has the discipline and dedication to go out every morning to watch for birds and take absolutely phenomenal photos of them. He also posts to his blog every day. So, when we planned to come down, I contacted Jim and asked if we could go birding with him. What a good move that was!

We met him at frosty sunrise, for a guided tour of all the hot eagle spots around the lake. Every branch and blade of grass sparkled in the sunrise as steam rose from the river. Outside temp? Around 7 degrees (or maybe a bit less).

Jim knows where many eagles have nests, and we checked out several of them. There has been some nest construction going on, but not this morning.

The early sun added an orange tinge to this pair of Red-winged Hawks, hoping to catch a few rays and warm up before going on the hunt.

The Redheaded Woodpeckers were active - calling as they flitted from tree to tree. The Turkey Vultures were already flying from their roosting spot for the night, which seemed pretty early in the day to me.

Hundred of thousands of gulls (Ring-bills mostly, I think) gathered below the dam. Sometimes they flew too fast to get a good photo.

Jim's favorite spot below the dam is a popular spot for the Bald Eagles too. We found a pair perched on one side of the river while five more gathered on another tree on this side.

All the birds were fluffed up given the temps. After a few hours, I wished I had feathers to fluff up on my feet too.

Several times we watched an eagle enjoying his breakfast...

...then taking off to look for seconds. I must admit, I went for seconds at the breakfast bar in the lodge myself when we got back. That hot coffee sure tasted good! This afternoon we are taking the C.Q. Princess up the lake to look for more eagles, but we can go inside the yacht if it gets too cold and windy on deck. Now that's the way to go birding!