Migrating eagles!

“Weather just too good to miss..Saturday afternoon I knew I had to get out so I drove South along Wisconsin's Hwy 35 which is part of the "Great River Road":
http://www.wigreatriverroad.org/

I was on a birding expedition..looking for swans, eagles and anything else..on the West side of Alma across from Reick's Park, I spotted dozens of eagles silhouetted against the Western sun..stopping, I sat in my incredibly comfortable Sling-back chair, binoculars glued to my eyes, and began counting..they were all immature Baldy's sitting on various branches all around the small slew opposite the silted up Reick's Lake and there were over 3 dozen of them...I continued down the road with Perrot State Park as my goal:
http://soli.inav.net/~atkinson/k/perrot.htm

Tons of mergansers and ducks in the bay! Only campsite with trees suitable for my Hennessy were next to a group of over 8 college graduates, male and female, who had attended the same high school, remained friends and decided Perrot was central to all their present, scattered residences..they had 2 excellent guitar players, enough songs to play for over 6 hours without repetition and a song list ranging from the Kingston Trio to Phish with everything in-between..they were thoughtful enough to come and ask if they were too loud and invite me to share their campsite..I told them I was really enjoying the music but was tired..stayed toasty warm using my new, Feathered Friends Eider sleeping bag even in the hammock..nice!

After breakfast I drove back to the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge:
http://www.trempealeau.net/wildlife_refuge.htm
http://refuges.fws.gov/profiles/index.cfm?id=32578

Not much at the overlook..some pelicans and a group of 6 swans flew by.. but, at the boat landing I saw a huge flock of pelicans..way over 100..and, on the prairie trail, saw a nesting eagle on a huge nest.

I crossed over to Minnesota at Winona and drove up to Read's landing:
http://www.exploreminnesota.com/listing/index.cfm?id=15154

Here there were dozens, well over 50 Baldies both on the ice and in trees..both mature and immature..Ron, from the Wabasha Eagle Viewing Platform:
http://www.beyondmainst.org/Parks/wabasha.htm

showed up and set up 2, huge viewing scopes for all the folks that were there..very entertaining..also hundreds of ducks were hanging about...

Then, I drove home..it was a lovely way to enjoy the week-end!”

“Going to the birds?”

“Gone to the birds, is more like it (insert goofy face here)”

“I saw my first red tailed hawk a week ago. The geese arrived en masse this week-end although a few had arrived earlier.

The sugaring is almost over, not a lot of steam.

There are ducks, snows and Canadas everywhere and the killdeer are looking for nesting areas (usually in all the wrong places - gravel lanes, et c.”

“Mata got to within probably an hour at most from us. Silly Mata! Shoulda stopped on by, but would a birder go for a Peeps slaughter? (me thinks she would!)”

“Mata got to within probably an hour at most from us. Silly Mata! Shoulda stopped on by, but would a birder go for a Peeps slaughter? (me thinks she would!)”

“I didn't get to Perrot until Saturday night around dusk..and, I was really tired...the next day, Sunday, I was looking for birds, not backpackers..LOL! although sometimes it may be hard for some to tell the difference..”