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Daily Bucket FRIDAY SEQUENCE: Appy Birds at John Redmond Reservoir [1]

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Date: 2023-01-06

A mature Bald Eagle flying over John Redmond Reservoir is packing a lunch of freshly caught sushi. The next challenge is to find a private place to eat it. With eight other eagles in the near vicinity that is a tall order. I'll tell you right now, with the exception of Pow Wow, I worked harder and longer on this 40+ pic cavalcade of a diary than any I have previously submitted. I'm even experimenting with space saving tricks. It's a trip as compared to an uber ride in town. That's just a heads up incase you want to bring a lunch.

John Redmond Reservoir is about forty miles north of Appy Trails Ranch. Nothing can interfere with my morning and evening chore schedule so I am not able to get there as early, nor stay as late, as would be ideal for what I want to accomplish. However, I find that activity above and below the dam is relatively non-stop, so 9AM begins my adventure in trying for a dazzling sequence of hunting Bald Eagles...more accurately Bald Eagles hunting! But there is a lot more to see than only Bald Eagles. In fact it is all the other things there that makes this place attractive to the eagles. I learned a long time ago if want want to find a certain subject it pays to learn everything you can about that subject. Starting with why eagles are attracted to J.R. Res seems like a good place to begin. Or, maybe we should just start at the entrance to John Redmond Reservoir… (I will attempt to utilize more photos including context)

THE DAILY BUCKET IS A NATURE REFUGE. WE AMICABLY DISCUSS ANIMALS, WEATHER, CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, WATERS AND NOTE LIFE’S PATTERNS. WE INVITE YOU TO NOTE WHAT YOU ARE SEEING AROUND YOU IN YOUR OWN PART OF THE WORLD, AND TO SHARE YOUR OBSERVATIONS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.

FLINT HILLS of KANSAS 2023

No historical info, just this sign at each entrance, accompanied by a host of signs advising of rules and regulations.

John Redmond Reservoir dam is located about a mile to the west of Highway 75 on the Neosho River. That junction is the site of a small community called New Strawn. New Strawn is just a few miles north of Burlington, Kansas which is the seat of Coffey County. Just a mile or so to the east of the highway at New Strawn is the Wolf Creek nuclear power plant. Just a few miles north and east of the Power plant is a large wind farm. So in a relatively small circle you have a nuclear power plant, a wind farm, and a reservoir surrounded with parks that are connected upstream to the 18,463 acre Flint Hills National Wildlife Refuge which was established in 1966. www.fws.gov/… Info at that link includes detailed (copyrighted) maps.

The following sign is posted at the entrance to each of the parks surrounding the Reservoir.

Public service announcement/instructions. ZOOM

Waverly Wind Farm (ZOOM it to see it) It stretches for miles along Interstate I35. Wolf Creek Nuclear Power Plant

Photo/s taken at a distance of approximately 2-3 miles while standing on the John Redmond Reservoir dam. ZOOM

When I arrived on the first of three trips to the Reservoir I spotted Eagles almost immediately. They were perched in very tall trees in the east side park area with a river backwater separating them. The camping area gates were closed, so I pulled up to it and parked, hoping to sneak up closer to the eagle perched on the near side of the backwater. Of course you can’t ‘sneak up on an eagle’, but you can move slowly enough it doesn’t become alarmed to the extent of flying away. It worked! But only for long enough that I got a few perched pics. Then they all took off for looking for someone better looking!

First trip, first eagle sightings, almost as soon as I arrived. Left is Zorro for the dark strip of mask across its eyes, but the expanding dark brown breastplate is a tell as well. Zorro is trying to join the ‘almost mature’ set. Center is a newly matured bird I named Main Playa. I say newly matured because it still has some barely and rarely visible black tips on a few tail feathers. Right is a bird I call White Wings. We will see a lot more of these three eagles soon and later. These are three of the nine eagles I would be privileged to see at the Reservoir. ZOOM

Zorro ZOOM White Wing

Nothing escapes the eye of Main Playa!

John Redmond Dam in 5 imperfectly stacked segments. The pic below shows our eagle landing where the bottom segment of the stack shows it perched.

This vertical composite pic like the horizontal one above, but up to down instead of side to side. It is a five part compilation of the dam structure from outflow pools at bottom to the rails along the roadway on top. It features a special flying mature Bald Eagle crossing in each layer of the composite. It happens to be the bird at center in the three bird composite above, Main Playa. Is that soon enough for you? This Eagle will have a lot more to say throughout this diary, as it seems to be a dominant presence among the eagle population at this site.

I didn’t have time or energy to get the concrete columns stacked up perfectly. I was focused on Main Playa and came up with the idea for creating this image while looking through the pics I had taken. You can scroll from top to bottom, locating the eagle as you go down to figure out the different image segments. The concrete structural pillars should be in continuous vertical alignment, and those two railed protruding steel decks are actually the same one, so you’ll have to use your imagination to get that correction made.

The bottom segment in this stack is what happened right after the larger pic posted below this Dam stack. While tracking this Eagle through my viewfinder I thought I was in the process of securing exactly what I had come for, which is an Eagle successfully stooping to make a kill. You know, ‘the money shot’. That did not happen. Main Playa spoofed on me. As you see in the base photo the Eagle simply landed atop one of the concrete baffles lined up in the pool. It then took off to fly over the top of my head for one close inspection, then up and over the dam to resume it’s scrutiny of the lake far out from the dam. That pic I got of it right over my head was worth the trip all by itself. I’ll use it for the closer.

Sorry. I thought I had a clever idea going but couldn’t figure out how to make it work the way I pictured it in my mind. Just scroll on down and pretend…

Note; this diary is a composite of three trips to the reservoir over a span of about a week and a half. The first trip showed a lake of open water. By time for the second and third trips the entire lake had frozen over with ice becoming thicker with each passing day. If there is to be a fourth trip I hope we get back to having some open water above the dam. After time under ice the fish want to surface, so the edge of melting ice pack becomes a hunting Eagle hotspot.

The Eagle had made more than a dozen passes back and forth, varying in height, over the pools. I tracked it in my viewfinder believing it was about to take down one of the many waterfowl working in the pools. When the Eagle landed on the bulwark I knew my goal for money shots of an Eagle scoring were squashed. Soooo, we’ll spend the rest of this diary thinking about what might have been...or we can celebrate what was and enjoy seeing what there is to see. There is a LOT to see.

Most of the photos shown were taken as I went from one end of the dam road to the other, back and forth, in pursuit of a reasonable view of the Eagles. I will show my usual focusing on a single bird, but am also determined to mix in more context of the surroundings these birds take advantage of in their wintertime quest for survival. Since we’re looking at the pool at the bottom of the dam we’ll begin right there as the open water pools are home to hundreds, if not thousands, of water birds.

WATER BIRDS in the FLINT HILLS

The following pics I took hurriedly in the area below the dam. Hurriedly because I had my sights set of hunting Eagles at work. Here is what I saw in the outflow pools and downstream.

Pelicans and Gulls claiming rights to an island in the outflow pool below the dam.

Pelicans, Cormorants, and a variety of ducks comprise most of the birds below the dam. Oh yeah, and the GULLS. There are multiple species of Gulls in the dam area numbering in the thousands.

One of the outflow exits currently open from the dam.

Hooded Merganser Golden Eye ZOOM Ring-Billed Gull? Herring Gull?

Pelicans, Cormorants and ducks constantly fly over the open waters below the dam. ZOOM

Cormorants, Pelican, and ducks fly close overhead as they move from one area to another in the open waters below the dam. ZOOM

This cormorant is missing a lot of tail feathers. I did not see our eagle do it, but I think there are two choices...stuck in the ice or Main Playa had a close call.

Did I mention there are a LOT of Gulls? What do you think these birds are? Any possibility these are some kind of geese? These birds filled the entire skyscape for quite some time. They went over one way first, then returned going the other way. The entire group easily numbered in the thousands.

I don’t recall seeing Gulls with a bill like these birds have. They are waay up high. ZOOM

See what I did there? I pulled us up out of the river bottom and up onto the road over the dam. That means we can now get to the real reason I made this trip. It’s time to get back to the world of Eagles!

I estimate the road over the dam to be about 2 miles in length, ending at the southeast corner which is the entrance to Otter Creek Wetlands area.

The road atop the dam behind this sign extends northward for at least 2 miles by my estimate, but I didn’t measure it. The road is a scant 2 lane with no room to turn around. Once you start one way you keep going until you reach the other end. There is no stopping or parking on the road allowed.

My eyes and ears perked right up at the mention of “Otter Creek”. I want to know when it was named and why there is a creek here by that name. So far I have found no one that can give me answers to those questions, but I haven’t finished trying yet. Below is a composite of signs appending the main Otter Creek Park sign.

Fish limit info Invasive alert The most encouraging, then most discouraging

signs I saw. ZOOM

To establish a wetlands area in Kansas it must be justified! It appears turning the wetlands into a maize of ATV trails was the only justification they could come up with.

My idea for justification is the foreground center, theirs is background center. As we work our way northward, lets stick with mine, okay?

Zorro landing to assist Main Playa in any Crows ass-kicking action required. But the Crows kept respectfully quiet so our Eagles took off to the north to resume trying to find something to eat.

Zorro is lake bound in stealth mode.

Main Playa north bound toward the lake.

Our Eagles flew back toward the lake and that signals the beginning of our…

Friday Sequence

This sequence is actually a composite of three sequences that occurred in succession. However they happened over a distance that included an interruption of my ability to get continuous photo coverage, thanks to some slow moving oncoming traffic on the dam road. The “ no stop/no park” rule caused me to miss out on some shots crucial to solving any questions about all of what happened.

It all started when I saw Main Playa coming back from a flight across the lake toting a captured fish.

Main Playa scored!

It is a nice fish. Think you could recognize that fish again? I hope so because things get puzzling down the line.

Main Playa needs to find a nice quiet place to eat, but flying across this huge expanse of open water with a fish dangling from her grasp is like a neon sign to other hungry eagles.

So here we are at the lead pic for this diary. Can Main Playa find a way to prevent theft of her prize? Or can she find a place to share it with her partners Zorro and White Wings?

Zorro is coming in from the same direction.

Is this bird coming in empty handed? ZOOM

He is not empty handed! But what does he have? He is doing a much better job of concealing the prize, but is he broadcasting his success vocally? ZOOM

White Wing’s prize is clearly visible now, even though he is carrying it on top of his tail! I guess he thinks if he can’t see it no one can. ZOOM

Both Main Playa and Zorro are looking for a place to feast and they are trying to get near each other.

Main Playa has landed but I don’t see her fish! Zorro and White Wings are searching for a spot of their own. What could go wrong? ZOOM

Lots could go wrong. They must surely be aware of the other three eagles perched in this same grove of trees just to the left of our frame. What's more is there are an additional three eagles soaring around over the open water to the right of our image frame. That could add up to very big problems. The problem for me is the trees are between me and the eagles. It is very difficult to get focus on the birds in that situation.

Sure enough, as Zorro attempts to perch he is accosted by another eagle, with White Wings coming to the...rescue? Bedlam ensues as Zorro’s fish dangles below his outstretched talons! ZOOM

I got lucky on the first two pics as my focus had locked on the birds and it gave me relatively clear view, but now I’m in trouble as there are two vehicles approaching head on from the south. I rush to get back in my truck to resume barely creeping forward so as to comply with the restrictions. The problem is those two vehicles have seen the eagles fighting and are slowing down to observe the action. There are two sessions of close combat between the eagles. These pics show only the first session. The third pic isn’t as clear as after I try to re-focus the camera chooses the trees instead of the birds.

Is that White Wings bringing the heat on Zorro? I messed around for a long time trying to get these birds to be as clear as they are but the pic just wasn’t sharp enough to do a lot of good. But if you look close you can see Zorro’s fish is pretty impressive. Is it recognizable? ZOOM

Thanks to the traffic this is where I lost contact with the action. The action was fast and furious and involved five of the six eagles present. By the time the other vehicles resumed their travel it was over. I had missed getting photos of the most exciting part. But there is still more to the story waiting to be seen.

Our heroes have prevailed, but not without cost. You can see a remnant of the feast hung up on the limb beside our bird White Wings. I see feathers a lot more tattered than they used to be. ZOOM

Time for damage control? Our bird has suffered a significant injury. Zoom to see the wound beginning at the neck and extending almost to the elbow of its wing, possibly going part way down the back. ZOOM

You can’t see that wound as well as I thought. I keep forgetting this zoom doesn’t work like mine. Mine works incrementally to about 1000%.

White Wings stretches its magnificent wing to test it for flightworthiness.(for the moment this pic has become my favorite eagle pic) Notice the left foot is empty. ZOOM

The wing appears to have passed muster and White Wing dives off its perch with a bearing set on the huge expanse of ice. I believe that if you zoom you can discover that White Wings has another prize in the grasp of his left foot. How did he do that? It looks like a small bird to me. What do you think? ZOOM

White Wing dives for the ice. (left to right)

White Wing perched far out on the ice...and he has found a new prize! I wonder what happened to the little bird in his claws just a few seconds ago? ZOOM

Off the ice with the fresh prize, and Eagle life goes on. ZOOM

At long last it is finally time for my ‘finish with a flourish’. We’ll retreat to the beginning of this diary for that Eagle, Main Playa, who made so many passes by the dam looking into the pools, but left without providing the money shots I went there to get. Before leaving it saw me and came over for a close get acquainted inspection, so close that had it dipped just a little bit lower it might have snatched the magic raptor hat right off of my head!

The ‘what-have-you-done-for-me-lately’ Bald Eagle bar setter. This has to pass for my money shot to date. ZOOMING

That does it for me today. I’m just gonna pack my saddlebags and head on home.

[END]
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