Eating on the Fly

Goose Snack

Eagle Snack

Eagle Days: Sauk City, Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin

Last weekend, I drove over to my parent’s to visit.  On the way there, the highway travels along the Wisconsin River for a few miles – four or five and to my foreign followers that would be less than ten kilometers.  During that short stretch I counted seven eagles; six adults and one adolescent, from a moving car while I was driving, so I’m certain I missed some.  Sauk City and Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin have their annual Eagle Days this weekend, so I drove there early Friday morning, hoping to see eagles.  I was not disappointed.  I set-up just before sunrise and waited.  With overcast skies the light developed very slowly so for the first hour or so I just watched as they flew in.  Sauk City has a big hydroelectric dam and below it the water remains open through Winter.  The open water attracts many types of birds searching for food, including eagles.  I don’t know how many eagles I saw as I sat their that first hour, but I had over two dozen sightings with the eagles all flying the same direction — toward the dam.

I shot many different eagles, from adults to adolescents like the one above, which is just beginning to get its white feathers.  In years past, I would see a couple eagles, and accept I would just have to be content with shots of the eagles flying through.  Not this year!  I passed on many shots of them flying through and took only shots of eagles as they tried to catch fish.  Even so, I still ended up with nearly six hundred photos of eagles fishing.

Above an adult goes in for a fish.

So if viewing wildlife, in particular eagles, is on your to-do list, you won’t be disappointed this year if you take the time to head over to Eagle Days in Sauk City and Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin this weekend.  There are lots of Eagles this year.

Wolfpack

Ahem…ahem…Wolfpack.