Category Archives: Canon RF600mm

Smoky Mountain June 2026 Trip

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Had a great trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP).  We spent 10 days camping along the bank of the Little Pigeon River at Riverbend Campground.  Very well kept, quiet and peaceful with the cascading water right behind our campsite. 

Always a good time when you you get to visit with family.  Since Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg gets crazy busy on the weekends, we made a long day trip over to see my sister and brother in law, and my niece and nephew in law.  Even got to see Mindy’s and Jeff’s new construction that is underway.

my routine was pretty much much Cade’s Cove in the mornings for bears, while Sharon slept in with the dogs.  Then we hiked in the mountains after lunch, or I made sure Sharon got plenty of retail therapy. Hikes included Spruce Flat Falls, and Cataract Falls.

Wednesday Cade’s Cove is Auto free day.  Meaning bikes and walkers only.  I had always wanted to bike Cade’s Cove.  So, I rented us a pair of E-Bikes from Vee Hollow Bike Shop in Townsend.  Sharon and I did one lap in the morning.  Car parking is an issue.  The parking fills up before 6:30 AM.  Volunteers and rangers stop all traffic, and use radios to direct incoming cars to the open parking spots.  We go it line about 10, hoping the rush would be over, as Sharon clearly stated no way in Heck, she was getting up at 5:00 AM on vacations.  We got lucky and the sent us to park at the camp store within 8-10 minutes.  She did Excellent and had a blast.  So much so we ordered a pair of E-bikes for trails at home and to take camping!  After one loop and a couple bear jams, I took her back to the camper and her and the dogs took a nap.  I threw my bike on the charger in the back of the truck.  2.5 hours later it was back to 100% charge.  I headed back to the cove to photograph bears.  This time I was loaded for bear.  My 600 on my shoulder and my 100-500 in the saddle pouch.  Saw 18 different bears.  Photographed a few but nothing great.  Too hard to focus on riding the bike and road to be able to search for bears.  No real bear jams to speak of.  Finally on my 3rd loop, I got some full frame clear cub shots finally!  Everything had been way out in the fields so I had the 1.4 teleconverter on my 600mm prime.  The momma bear bought her 2 cubs right across the road, 30-40 years in front of me.  I had too much lens, and no time to dig my second camera with the 100-500 lens out of the saddle bags.  All in all, great relaxing trip with lots of time in nature and a few “keeper” photos! Here are a few of my favorites.

Life is good and I am blessed!

Kent

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Aging of Eagles 2

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Aging of Eagles Part 2:

I had several people ask how to tell how old the Juvenile Eagles are. Here are some reference photos of all 5 stages of them maturing. The age is under each photo in the description. I haven’t seen many mud heads (3.5) year old Eagles this year.
 
.5 year old (Black Beak)
 
 
1.5 year old (Black and Yellow Beak)
 
 
2.5 year old (Yellow Beak)
 
 
3.5 year old (Mud Head)
 
 
4.5 year old (head not pure white, some white still under the wings)
 
 
5 year old + (Mature Adult)
 
Reference Photo – Not mine.
 

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Life is good and I am blessed!
Kent

Fox on the Run

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Tuesday 1/27/26 while photographing Eagles on the Iowa River South of the Power Plant roller dam, in between the Railroad bridge and Benton St Bridge. There was plenty of Eagle activity, but heard the sound of a train coming. The train spooked a pair of Red Foxes, the first one slide down the river bank in a hurry and buried into some brush. Right as it was ready to step out it turned and looked at me with a mostly open shot. The second photo is the other one of the pair and was on a mission to get away from the noise of the train. I was really hoping they would stop and take a Canadian Goose for some action shots. They just continued to work South until out of sight. Could be an interesting place in the spring for Fox Kits.

Anybody else singing “Fox on the Run” by Sweet (1975)

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Life is good and I am blessed!
Kent

Eagles at Tailwaters West

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Thursday January 22nd, 2026. I was bored so I went Eagling over in Iowa yesterday.

L&D14: zero eagles after reports of 25+ yesterday.
L&D15: 6-8 eagles mostly juveniles active 3/4’s of the way across lots of Pelicans. A few fly overs.
Credit Island: city crew out cutting up downed trees. Zero eagles
Concord street: some open water South of the Blue 280 bridge. 3 Eagles sitting on the ice. So far zero activity.
So I drove another hour to Iowa City, Power Plant roller dam, 20 eagles active and some fishing. Parking there is an issue. I walked the railroad tracks down to the foot path and then walk back to north to the roller dam. Long lens needed. Eagles turned off at 2:45 pm.
I then headed to the Tailwater’s West for the golden hour: 12 eagles in the cottonwood tree by the boat ramp. The pool is mostly iced over. 6 – 8 active eagles sitting in the trees by the chute. Flow rate from the dam was way down, but when a fish did show up, there was action, fishing and chasing. 3:30 – 4:45pm. It is a special place and could be as good as L&D 14 was back in the days before the trees died. too bad it is 3 hours from home. Seems to be best the first hour, and the last hour of the day.
 
The next 7 – 10 days should keep getting better, as more rivers ice up and snow should cover the ground.
 
Camera Settings
Canon R5.2
Canon RF600
Handheld
1/2500
F4
ISO 800 – 3200 (AUTO)
 
Full fishing sequence.
 

Fly by with fish.

quartering away.

Juvenile is golden hour light.

Lots of American White Pelicans at Lock & Dam 14 and Lock & Dam 15.  The males are just starting to get their breeding hump on their bills.

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Life is good and I am blessed!
Kent

Long Ear Owls

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I decided when Sharon told me we were moving back to Illinois, that I would try and complete my bucket list of all the owls in North America. I took a huge step forward the last two seasons.

January of 2024, at Sax Zim Bog (SZB) I got my Great Gray Owl (GGO)
January of 2025 at Two Harbors and SZB I got my Boreal Owl

So this year’s goal was / is a Saw Whet Owl. That hasn’t happened yet, but was able to cross off Long Ear Owl (LEO) today. In fact I spent the morning with 6 or 7 and was able to get some mostly clear photos. The long-eared owl are a medium-sized owl, which measures between 12 and 16 inches in height. The males are much skinnier and lanky compared the larger females. The males have much more facial coloring.

Today was a long but great day in the field: LEO’s, and also a Great Horned Owl (GHO) on eggs already, and finished off with another beautiful juvenile male Snowy Owl (SNOW). Pretty much from 4:00 AM – 3:30 PM.

Photos of the GHO and SNOW to follow as I get them edited. Time to suck it up and start putting miles in the woods to find my Northern Saw Whet Owl (NSWO)! Anybody have any leads on a NSWO or Barn Owl and willing to share PLEASE msg me!

After the Saw Whet, I’ll still need a Barn Owl, Pigmy Owl and the smallest of them all an Elf Owl.

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Life is good and I am blessed!
Kent