River Navigation Charts available for download (FREE)

I have used the closest river mile in addition to the gps coordinates to reference these nests. The river mileage is according to the Army Corps of Engineers charts we use to navigate the rivers. These can be purchased in printed form or downloaded for free.

Ohio River
http://www.lrl.usace.army.mil/optm/default.asp?mycategory=41

Mississippi River
http://www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/NIC2/mrcharts.cfm

Illinois River
http://www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/NIC2/ilwwcharts.cfm

I'll try to answer any questions you have about using the charts or to help you find the right one.

ILL River mile 160 Peoria IL

ILL River mile 160

40" 39.536 N x 89" 36.886 W

Picture taken Nov. 2011

This nest is in Kickapoo Bend on the left descending side of the river.

ILL River mile 248

ILL River mile 248

41" 18.885 N x 88" 41.110 W

Picture taken Nov. 2011

This nest is is just upstream from Marseilles IL on the left descending side of the river.

ILL River mile 238

ILL River mile 238

41" 20.172 N x 88" 51.742 W

Picture taken Nov. 2011

This nest is just downstream from Ottawa IL on the left descending side of the river.

ILL River Mile 197

ILL River Mile 197

41" 07.155 N x 89" 19.972 W

Picture taken Nov. 2011

This nest is just upstream of Henry IL. on the east side of the river.

...and I believe these are the builders. This pic was taken 100 yards upstream from the nest. My observation is that mating pairs will roost together, often sharing the same limb. I usually only see this after they have kicked the eaglets out, towards early fall. (hint hint Connor and Evan)



UMR River mile 355

 

UMR 355

40" 18.393 N x 91" 28.307 W

Picture taken Nov. 2011

This nest is 5 miles downstream from Warsaw IL on the IL side of the river.

ILL River mile 56

Illinois River Mile 56

39" 38.584 N x 90" 36.504 W

Picture taken 11/23/11

This nest is 1 mile upstream from Florence IL on the east side of the river.

UMR River mile 361

UMR 361

40" 22.578" N x 91" 25.660 W

Picture taken Nov. 2011

This nest may be the northern most MO nest. It is located right between the Mississippi and Des Moines Rivers, just downstream from Keokuk IA.

UMR River mile 281

UMR 281

39" 26.077 N x 90" 01.537 W

Picture taken Nov. 2011

This nest is 1 mile below the Louisiana MO RR bridge one the MO bank. It is interesting that it is on a fertilizer plants property. You can see the plant in the bankground. 

UMR River mile 279

UMR 279

39" 25.660 N x 90" 59.769 W

Picture taken Nov. 2011

This nest is on Crider Island approx. 3.5 miles downstream from Louisiana MO.

UMR River mile 265

UMR 265

39" 18.438 N x 90" 47.623

Picture taken Nov. 2011

This nest is on an island along the Missouri side of the Mississippi River approx 3 miles north of the Clarence Cannon National Wildlife Refuge. 

OHR River mile 342 Ohio River below Greenup Lock and Dam

OHR 342

38" 39.557 N x 82" 51.749 W

Picture taken Sept 2009

observed Oct 2011

This nest is perched high above the Ohio River atop a natural gas pipeline.

UMR River mile 543.6

UMR 543.6
42" 09.693 N x 90" 13.292 W
Picture taken Nov. 2011

Located a mile downstream from its nearest neighbor. Poor picture but I will upgrade as soo as I go by again.

UMR River mile 544.8

 UMR 544.8
42" 10.237 N x 90" 14.499 W
Picture taken Nov. 2011

This nest was constructed approximately 1000' downstream from the location of the Island 257 nest but I don't know if it is the same birds. There is 1 in the picture just t the right of the nest. Sorry for the poor quality. I'll take another the next time I go by.

UMR River mile 545 Gone but not forgotten.

 

  This nest was 10 miles upstream of Savanna IL on an island on the Illinios side of the Mississippi River at the Island 257 dayboard.
42" 10.336 N , 90"14.715 W
UMR 545 (545 miles north of Cairo IL.)
Picture taken Apr. 2009

  These 2 pictures show 3 eagles, 2 adults and the head of the eaglet being fed. This spot was referred to as the "Two Big Trees" when I first came out to the Mississippi River in 1988. This name was given to this spot below the Island 257 dayboard by either Capt Trone or Capt Stier (My bet is that it was Capt Stier). It was one of the areas where the Julia Belle Swain and the Twilight could land at to exchange crew members and supplies when we passed each other everyday on the 2 day trips between Leclaire IA and Chestnut Mountain / Galena IL. 

  This nest was destroyed in 2010 during a storm/flood when its cottonwood tree was knocked down. Not to worry, I am happy to report that another nest was constructed about 1000 feet downt stream from where this one once stood. Pictures to follow.

OK, a few more pictures take June 2009.

Facebook Eagle album

https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/media/set/?set=a.1096395894785.2016627.1373222272&type=1

Here is the link to my eagle album on Facebook.

UMR River mile 568 A very big nest!!!

 This nest is near Dubuque IA on an island on the Illinios side of the Mississippi River below Deadmans Light.
42" 23.861 N , 90"30.066 W
UMR 568 (568 miles north of Cairo IL.)
Picture taken Nov. 2011

   I first saw this nest in 2004 while working on the Riverboat Twilight. It has been a passenger favorite because it is so easy to see from the boat. Every year, watching the adult eagles raise their eaglets has been nothing short of awesome. We could get the boat within a couple hundred feet of the nest and almost guarantee an eagle sighting everyday. The second picture is a view from nearly 1/2 mile away. I checked on Google Earth and I think you can even see it from space.

   I searched thru my old pics and found this one of the same nest from April 2009. It was taken from nearly the same spot as the first pic in this blog.

OK, just to prove a point, Robin, you can see it from space. I do not own these next three pics, they are from google earth.

See it???

How 'bout now???

Ta Da!!! Right in the middle of the picture, you can clearly see  the nest, sorta.

River Eagle Nest GPS Coordinates

   I have spent most of my adult life working on the Mississippi River spying on bald eagles while piloting boats. There is a lot to look at, and time
to look while traveling at an average breakneck speed of 6 mph!. My wonderful wife claims this skill is not a one I should use while driving our
vehicles. It has been remarkable watching their numbers dramatically increase. The first few years , circa 1988+, on the Steamboat  Julia Belle Swain's
and Riverboat Twilight's 2 day Mississippi River Adventure to Chestnut Mountain Ski  Resort, we were hard pressed to find  eagles close enough to the
boat for the passengers to see. I remember it only being a few per week and once one was spotted,  trying to direct our passengers' gaze to the correct
tree, usually 1/2 mile or so away, proved to require as much a skill as piloting the boat. I described it as "looking down a golf course fairway looking
for a golf ball in a tree, and the once you find it, you've found the bald eagle's head".
   Passengers seemed to be seeing more and more birds. I thought it was a result of my oratory skills improving to the point where Ray Charles could
find the perched eagle I had been describing. I never thought the increased sightings were a result of there simply being more eagles . Funny how my
"self confidence" works that way. The last few seasons I spent on the Riverboat Twilight, circa 2005, we saw so many birds that my life was threatened
by one of the crew members who'd grown sick of hearing me point them out on the boats public address system. I believe her words were something like
this... "The next eagle you point out had better be singing and dancing, smoking a cigar, and whistling Dixie OR I'm gonna hurt you!".  I'm still alive
to tell the story.
   From 1988 when we would see a few per week to today, where I can see 20 to 30 and often more in my 6 hour watch in a pilot house, is an amazing
change to have witnessed. It used to take a measure of skill to look for them, but now it is, at times, like looking for pigeons in Central Park
(kinda).
  If I only saw bald and golden eagles living along the river, I would say I've seen something that most haven't. Watching them build nests, guard
their eggs, feed the eaglets, eaglets peek over the top of the nest, venture out in the tree, and eventually fly, has been a special gift. I think it
is something I would have imagined seeing only in the pages of National Geographic or on a Discovery Channel program. I have become obsessed with trying
to photograph them and share with my friends what I get to see at work via email and Facebook. I think most became a bit bored with my updates.  So,
I've kinda scaled back my eagle watch. Then it came to me..... I'll mark my river charts with the locations of the nests I see at work. This was to be
for my own enjoyment and not for any other purpose, I began noting the location of all the nests on my river charts. The Ohio River from Pittsburgh to
Cairo, the Mississippi River from Cairo to St Paul, and the Illinois River from Grafton to Lemont. It was a casual work, and I never stopped to count
how many nests I had viewed.   (dramatic music...DAAAA Daaaa duuuuuuh) and then my basement flooded and I lost 981 miles of Ohio River notes and 300
miles of Illinois River notes.
   I was crushed to say the least, All of my eagle observations were lost, not to mention my navigation notes for running the rivers. I began to
rebuild my observations on new charts when I had an epiphany...I work with a very sophisticated GPS navigation system and I can use it to document GPS
positions of all the eagle nests I see and save it to a blog or something to preserve the notes. TA DA!!!
  I hope you enjoy my hobby. It is like an Easter (eagle) egg hunt. Please observe and respect that these are wild creatures and respect their habitat
if you wish to try to locate the nests I've seen. I will add a few tips and notes. I work 35 feet above the surface of the river which assists in
seeing into the trees. The nests are hard to see in the late spring and summer due to the foliage and the birds are less visible while they are tending
to the eaglets during this time. Sometime in early July the eaglets start to explore their tree homes and are fun to watch. In my opinion, a cottonwood
tree is their preferred platform. I believe it is because of its' "airy" canopy and allowing a bird with an 8 foot wingspan to easily fly into it
without injury to their wings. By comparison, think of a sugar maple with its dense canopy of small branches like a spiders web, easily making
arrivals and departures hazardous (but I have seen nests in the crook of maples).
 This is not a scientific presentation, nor do I claim to be an expert on eagles or anything else for that matter. The nests will have river milage and gps coordinates and the dates of observation. I hope to expand my observations to include how many birds I see during my watches.
 I am merely a grateful observer of
the wonders God has placed on our planet.
  With regards,
  John