Sunny River Writings

February of a new year! Hopefully we are moving past the bitter cold weather. Today as I write this the sun is shining and there is nothing but blue sky as far as I can see. I am hoping that this blog is my avenue to talk with you.

I live withing 15 minutes of the Mississippi River in Missouri. During January as the river began to freeze the Bald Eagles migrated from their northern summer habitats to the dams along the river. The water flowing through the dams in the southern areas of the Mississippi stay flowing as the water between them freezes. The eagles like to catch the fish the go through the dams.

I like to go out and count the eagles at two of the close by dams. During the freeze-up it is common to count over a hundred eagles sitting in the trees that line the shore of the river. There are both the mature Bald Eagle and many immature eagles. The immature are easy to spot as their heads and tail feathers have not yet turned white.

This year I am keeping a map as to where the eagle nests are. So far I have spotted 8 nests. Two of the nests had an eagle sitting in it which leads me to think the eagle has laid its eggs. Both the male and female Bald Eagle take turns sitting on the eggs. It is not uncommon to see one on the nest and another on a branch nearby. The eggs usually hatch around mid-April to early May.

Most of the eagles will head north as the weather warms and the water thaws. Although we have a few eagles that stay in this area all year round. It is nothing like the 100+ that appear in the cold winter months.