At the end of February I went in search of Bald Eagles and whatever else I would see along the way. On February 26 I headed toward Stanford and Crab Orchard in search of some nesting eagles. Of course, if I saw things of interest along the way I was all over that stuff too. Then, two days later I headed to an area north of Frankfort after hearing about a swarm of eagles in a field that had been flooded. While there I also made my first visit to the Pfeiffer Fish Hatchery for my first time. You would think that someplace so close to Lexington would have hit some of my agendas in the past, but I never made it there before.
My drive for February 26 was to get to Cedar Creek Lake off of US 150 between Stanford and Crab Orchard, Kentucky. First stop along the way from Lexington was in Lancaster, the county seat for Garrard County. I wanted to add the courthouse to my collection for courthouses. From there I made my through Stanford and continued on to Cedar Creek Lake, about 5 miles southeast of Stanford, to look for the eagles that reside there. Cedar Creek Lake is a 784-acre reservoir in Lincoln County and is a popular lake for fishing and is the second largest state-controlled lake in Kentucky. Its average depth is 22 feet and maximum depth is about 60 feet. There are actually two different nests in the area. I made it to the first of these and saw the huge nest, but no eagles. I looked around and didn’t see any eagles in the nearby trees either. Such is the luck of the draw with Bald Eagles. You never know since it is hit or miss. However, on the way out I DID get to see one eagle!!
Since there was not much going on, I made my way to the nearby William Whitley House and Sportsman’s Hill. The State Historic Site features the home of pioneer William Whitley and his wife Esther Whitley who was a well-known sharpshooter. The home was built as a fortress against Indian attacks between 1787 and 1794. It was the first brick home built west of the Alleghany Mountains and finally completed in 1794. It was dubbed the “Guardian of Wilderness Road” by explorers and had visitors such as George Rogers Clark and Daniel Boone. The site is also noted for its circular horse race track, also the first of its kind west of the Alleghany Mountains. This is where the name Sportsman’s Hill comes from. Though it was closed for visitors on the day I was there, it was still a nice site to see.
On the way to another site near the lake for another eagle nest, I passed through nice farmland.
To get to the other eagle sight, I had to go back through Stanford, so I took a little look see there as well. This community is considered the 2nd Oldest City in Kentucky, having been founded in 1775. Originally founded by Benjamin Logan as St. Asaph, it became known as Logan’s Fort. The story goes that Stanford may have come from “Standing Fort,” which was a name given to Fort Logan because t survived multiple attacks during the American Revolution.
One of the more unique places in town is the Baughman Mill building. You can read the historic sign below to learn more.
From there I made my way to Cowan Road Boat Ramp which is off of KY 1770 near Sugar Grove and is also on Cedar Creek Lake. I had much more success here.
The first thing I saw when I got here was not a Bald Eagle, but an American Kestrel, one of the smallest raptors. These little guys are cute and very fast.
And then there were Eagles!! In this location I spotted both a giant Bald Eagle nest and nearby, in two separate places, were bald eagles. I was very happy to catch them perched up in trees near the road.
After a successful trip, I made my way back home. The next day I had heard from one of my photographer friends that there were a bunch of eagles in a field north of Frankfort on US 127 and that they could easily be seen from the road. It was near the confluence of Elkhorn Creek and the Kentucky River close to Still Waters Campground. So, on February 28 I headed up early in hopes to see them. I had some success there too as I got there early when the eagles were feeding. I saw 19 or 20, mostly juvenile, bald eagles in the trees and flying around. Thankfully, I had a big telephoto lens!
After enjoying all of these big birds, I saw them all slowly fly away. Before long, the field and trees were empty. But, I wondered if they had made their way to the Pfeiffer Fish Hatchery which wasn’t too far away. I had never been there, so I thought it would make a nice little detour since I was already close by. Didn’t know much about it, but was glad I was able to go down there.
After arriving and driving through, I was greeted by a mute swan. It had to wave of course…it is mute.
But the highlight for me was waiting by one of the buildings, sitting up in a tree. This guy sat there waiting for me and gave me plenty of opportunities to get shots from my car through the sun roof. I was literally about 30 feet underneath this big bird.
And, as I was driving off, another eagle was flying directly over me as I sat on Indian Gap Road.
The day turned into a wonderful and very fruitful eagle adventure for me and my puppy Miles. I was glad I made the trip.
Did you enjoy what you saw here? My books cover so much more.
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