John K. Flores: It's Expo time, and eagle adventures are ahead

Eagles, eagles everywhere! As you make your morning commute or are on the water in the spillway fishing, have you noticed it has become the norm now to see bald eagles? There was a time not too long ago it wasn’t.
I can remember those times back in the ’80s and early ’90s, when bald eagle nests were protected and there were mandated “work arounds” in the marshes prohibiting human activity.
Following the ban of DDT in 1972, the idea back then was to protect the nests and let nature take its course. And indeed, it did.
Nearly two decades ago, in the early 2000s, I was duck hunting in a large pond and perhaps a quarter mile away noticed an eagle nest in a grove of cypress trees. On weekends I’d hunt that pond and during lulls in the action turn my attention to the eagle nest.
There were two eagles tending the nest. They would come and go, seemingly taking turns, where one or the other always stood guard.
On bluebird days, the morning sunlight would reflect off their pure white heads, where they lit up like a star.
They never seemed to be bothered by our shotgun fire, where every so often the eagles would hunt the far end of the pond chasing ducks and coots. Those were always National Geographic moments, especially when one flew away with breakfast in its talons.
I wanted to get closer to the nest to take pictures of this great site and decided that after the duck season closed to do just that.
To get to my duck blind in the shallow pond, I push-poled a 10-foot Jon boat. This would be my mode of travel on the photographic journey.
On the day I made the trip, my wife decided to go with me. We got up early and made it to the pond just before sunrise donned in drab clothing and hip boots with a little day pack holding our cameras.
The pond and marsh were wonderfully quiet, with only the whoosh-pause-whoosh sound of the boat moving steadily forward interrupting the peacefulness.
I pulled the boat up on the bank and we got out. We still had a couple hundred yards to walk in order to be close enough for a decent shot with our cameras. What I didn’t know or plan for, was how boggy the marsh was around the duck pond. What’s more, how we were going to stay dry.
Having no Plan B, we would simply squat down and hide in the grass and get our butts wet. It was so fun!
Adventures aren’t adventures without some sort of struggle, hardship, or blunder that makes up the plot to the story.
Bald eagles are large birds with wingspans that range 6 to 7 feet. Our safe distance from the tree and their sheer size made it easy to get pictures with our 400mm lenses. This remains one of Christine and my most fun adventures.
Today, it’s nothing to drive automobiles and boats so close to perched bald eagles you can take pictures with a cellphone.
Last weekend while driving down La. 317 in Centerville, I saw a half dozen black vultures and two bald eagles fly off an animal carcass. The roadkill turned out to be a hog and the scavengers were making quick work of the fresh meat.
All the birds flew off the carcass and perched in the nearby trees as I approached and waited for me to pass. I had two of my grandsons with me and said, “Boys, you want to see some eagles?”
One of them is still in the car seat age and the other just out of a booster chair, where they couldn’t see the birds. They both gave me an affirmative.
Looking through my rearview mirror I could see the eagles and vultures return to the dead hog. I turned my truck around at the first sugarcane field driveway I came to and returned up the road.
As I got close to the roadkill I slowed down and rolled the windows down where they could see. Once again, the birds flew up into the roadside trees and this time the boys got a good look at the eagles and vultures.
Papa scores again with yet another successful outdoor adventure, even if this time we were spying bald eagles from the road while in the confines of a vehicle.
Speaking of adventures, the 20th Annual Eagle Expo and More started this week with a whole slew of activities available for bird and nature lovers to participate in. The Eagle Expo annually draws visitors from out of state, as St. Mary Parish rests in the epicenter of the bald eagle’s recovery area which helped lead to its delisting from the Endangered Species List in August 2007.
Boat tours, where participants can view bald eagles in their natural surroundings, have been filling up fast as EXPO time approaches. It’s recommended to contact the Cajun Coast Tourism event organizers at (985) 380-8224 or (800) 256-2931 to check on and register for any available tour seats.
For more information on all programs over the course of the weekend, go online to info@cajuncoast.com.
John Flores is the Morgan City Review’s outdoor writer. He can be contacted at gowiththeflo@cox.net.