Tag Archives: Canon R5

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

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

Day 18: (Friday 9/26/25), Red Rocks Tour & Rocky Mountain National Park.

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Day 18: (Friday 9/26/25), Red Rocks Tour & Rocky Mountain National Park.

No alarm morning.  Felt good to sleep in, got up at 7:30, that is late for me.  This stop in Golden CO, was to see Connie, Sharon’s sister and spend some time together.  Unfortunately, her work called her out of town this week   I have always wanted to see a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater.  So, this morning we took the tour, then we back to the camper and grabbed the dogs.  Headed to Rocky Mountain National Park.  They have also gone to the “Time Entry” program.  But no ticket needed after 2:00 pm.

This concludes the fun part of the trip.  All that is left is a couple crash and burn nights on our way back to Illinois.  Tons of photos to edit, stories to write with each one as I relive and post them.  I could have done a much longer trip, but Sharon is more than ready to be off the road.  She did great and we decided she is a traveling “Glamper” not a camper.  Meaning she doesn’t want to go sit in the woods and do the bon fires and bourbon.  She like traveling to see new adventures, but the connivence of sleeping in her own tiny house.

Red Rocks view from the top looking down on the stage

Yes, I went down and stood on the stage.  1 minute of being a Rock Star.

Found a harem of Elk cows with one Huge bull watching over them.  There we 3 smaller bulls hanging around but never came close.

It is HARD work fending off other bulls and keeping 40+ women in line.  He finally laid down in the shade for some rest.

My first mule deer buck.  They have big ears.  Larger bodies than a whitetail, but behave pretty much the same.

Second mule deer buck.  Notice how the tines split and then split again, they don’t grow out of one main beam like the whitetails do.

Looked for Moose and Big Horn rams but it was way too early in the day to find them.  Guess I’ll have to go back to find “Frank the Tank” and get a full circle Big Horn Ram.  Other than that I captured most of the wildlife I went out here for!  It has been a great trip.  I’m glad Y’All followed along.

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Life is good and I am blessed!

Kent

Day 16: (Wednesday 9/24/25), Canyonland National Park

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Day 16: (Wednesday 9/24/25), Canyonland National Park & the Arches NP.

Slept in, went shopping in the little downtown of Moab, had a great lunch, took the leftovers back to the camper.  One of the locals I was talking too, told me if I wanted a sunrise through an arch, is happening NOW at Mesa Arch. We grabbed the dogs and headed out to explore Canyonland National Park.  We have to be out of the current campground by 11:00 am tomorrow.  So, I am going to try and catch “The Shot” in the morning, bust butt back here to get on the road by 11:00 to get to outside Denver and setup before dark.  I decided I like the red rock mountains that stick up, better than the canyons.  Photos do not do either any justice, and should really be experienced in real life.

 

Canyonland National Park

Arches National Park

An Attempt at some lens flare plus landscape all in one.  Didn’t quite pull it off.  

Getting up early and going after the sunrise photo through Mesa Arch, then onto Denver.

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Life is good and I am blessed!

Kent