The eagles have landed, extending a miracle
The once rare bird is now seemingly everywhere, still sparking joy and wonder
This post is part of a feature called Random Topic Tuesday, which explores other topics that might or might not be sports-related or sports-adjacent. Because they are, you know, random.
It’s a Saturday morning. Nothing to do, nowhere to be, yet I’m up early. Worth it, since I’m about to go hang with some friends.
They really don’t want much to do with me, to be honest. I just like to head across the city and see what they’re up to, especially since most of them are only in town for a little while. It’s maybe a little bit stalker-ish but it’s also a nice way to start my weekend.
Truly, I’m not a creepy friend. We’re at that time of the year when the eagles – small “E,” not Don Henley and company – are here and I couldn’t be happier.
Granted, it doesn’t take much to get me to wander off and do random things like go watch eagles. But even so, there’s a special joy in doing this. Life is full of moments in which we do things we never imagined we’d do and something as simple as watching eagles in downtown Des Moines is one of them – and one of the most surprising of all.
Why so surprising? A little history will make that clear.
The latest stats available in Iowa reported that 2,901 eagles were counted in the state in 2023. (2024 stats are being finalized and the 2025 count is happening now.) Since 2015, eagles have been spotted nesting in all 99 Iowa counties.
Fifty years ago, you know what that number was? Zero. Nada. Zip. Zilch. None. As in not even one.
Though the Founding Fathers designated the bald eagle as a national symbol in 1782, that didn’t do much to ensure their presence in the fledgling nation. Eagles were seen as a predator to livestock and routinely shot, sometimes for a bounty. From there came a loss of habitat as the nation grew and pesticides, primarily DDT, that poisoned the birds. According to the Iowa DNR, where there once had been 100,000 eagle pairs in the lower 48 states, that had plummeted to less than 4,000 by the 1960s. In that same time period, no nesting pair of eagles was spotted in Iowa after 1905.
The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act was passed in 1940. Among other things, it outlawed killing eagles and harming eggs. DDT was banned in 1972. Eagles were listed as an endangered species in 1978. In 1977, Iowa recorded one bald eagle nest, marking the eagle’s return to the state after a 72-year absence.
I was in my 30s when I saw my first eagle. A group of friends rented a houseboat on the Mississippi for an October weekend in the 1990s. North of Dubuque, on a chilly gray day that was more mischief than nature appreciation, there it was on the western side of the river: the first eagle I’d ever seen in my life. I’m not a birder, I hadn’t communed much with nature since my Girl Scout days yet I was as giddy as a little kid who had just seen Santa. An eagle. Far away, but unmistakably one of those regal creatures. What a treat.
I’m not sure if there’s anything you can say besides “I got a new hip last summer” that can make you sound so old as saying that young people probably don’t grasp what something is like. So it goes with spotting eagles. For decades, we simply didn’t see eagles. They weren’t there. They were these things we saw on patriotic illustrations or nature shows or John Denver sang about but we sure didn’t see them flying around as we went about our everyday business.
Yet little by little, there they were.
After that houseboat weekend, I didn’t see an eagle again for a while. Eventually, on frequent trips between Madison and Des Moines, I’d notice them near the Cedar River north of Iowa City and always feel a little thrill. Soon I noticed them around Dubuque, too. Then, when a photographer and I were driving near the Sugar River south of Madison on a newspaper assignment, an eagle swooped so close to our windshield we both jumped in our seats and looked at each other in disbelief.
Soon it became not a matter of if I’d see an eagle but how many. Eagle-spotting became the highlight of my road trips.
I moved back to Des Moines in summer 2022, and no one told me the eagles had moved back, too. When I first moved to the city, I lived south of downtown near the Scott Avenue Bridge, where the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers meet at a dam. One winter day as I crossed the bridge I was stunned to see trees full of … something … on the south shore of the Des Moines River across the street from Mullet’s restaurant. I turned around, parked the car and counted 33 eagles. Once upon a time seeing one was a thrill, and now there were 33 in one place. In my neighborhood, no less. My jaw dropped.
There had been clues. A sign at McKinley Elementary School, two blocks from the river, says, “McKinley Eagles SOAR!” School officials changed the nickname from Bulldogs to Eagles in the early 2000s in honor of their new seasonal neighbors. Across the river, there’s an apartment complex called Eagle View Lofts. That could have been a light-bulb moment but names can be so meaningless it never occurred to me there actually were eagles there. (Heck, there’s an excellent restaurant in West Des Moines called Waterfront Seafood Market and the closest it is to water is any puddles that might be in the parking lot.)
Late in 2023, Des Moines began construction on the ICON Water Trails downtown. At first, I thought additional recreation downtown would be a nice thing. Then I saw what the construction was doing: It was knocking down the trees where I had seen the 33 eagles the winter before. I wanted to immediately turn myself into an eco-warrior and chain myself to the trees to protect the habitat of my new eagle friends.
Of course, I didn’t. Maybe if I had done that the eagles actually would be my friends instead of politely ignoring me on my many visits. Or not. They’re probably too cool for that sort of thing.
My joy has evolved from simply spotting the eagles to observing them. They fly like all of us dream of flying – swooping and gliding through the air, not flapping away like geese or songbirds that make it look like work. And the day-to-day routine of their lives here is to be admired: They hang out in a tree for a bit, decide to go fly around for a while and maybe get something to eat. They’re like me during March Madness, minus the flying.
Still, though, their mere existence continues to thrill.
A melancholy truth about the passage of time is that it’s a constant state of accommodating loss. People we love are no longer with us. Things we enjoyed are no longer part of our culture. Jobs we love go away and friendships fade. We’re used to precious things disappearing, not reappearing.
Yet the eagles reappeared, as if by magic. Of course it wasn’t magic, it was successful wildlife management and forward-thinking federal legislation, but that’s a whole other story. Forget how bureaucratic the reasons might be, I still want to consider it a miracle. And forget how many cool famous people I’ve gotten to interview or the fantastic sporting events I’ve gotten to cover in my career, they’d never provide the sense of joy and wonder that the magnificent eagles do for me.
Besides, the cool famous people actually spoke to me. The eagles just ignore me. That’s OK; they’re busy being magnificent and I’m busy being amazed.
Where is your favorite eagle watching spot? Please share in the comments.
Upcoming eagle events in Iowa
Des Moines: Bald Eagle Day, Feb. 8, hosted by Des Moines Parks and Recreation at 10 a.m. on the Southeast Sixth Street bridge.
Ankeny: Saylorville Eagle Watch, Feb. 23, hosted by the Dallas County Conservation Board, at the Cottonwood Recreation Area to view below the Saylorville Reservoir.
Clinton: Bald Eagle Watch, Feb. 8, with educational programs at Clinton Community College and eagle viewing and information at Lock 13 of the Mississippi River.
Many events were held earlier in January; check listings later this year to get them on your calendar for 2026.
Note: Many thanks to my former Des Moines Register colleague Tom Alex for use of his eagle photos.
Jane Burns is a former sports and features writer for the Des Moines Register, as well as other publications and websites. She’s a past winner of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s Mel Greenberg Award for her coverage of women’s basketball. Over the course of her career she’s covered pretty much everything, which is why her as-yet-to-be-written memoir will be called “Cheese and Basketball: Stories From a Reporter Who Has Covered Everything.”
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The Des Moines Parks and Rec events at the 6th St bridge are wonderful. They set up a telescope for kids (and adults) to see closeups.
Marvelous birds! Thanks for sharing your wonder and enthusiasm, Jane!