This year has started off very challenging for me personally, but I expect to turn things around and have a great year, praying that everyone reading this is having a good (or great) start to their year. Mother Nature has been throwing curve balls to most of the US so far this winter, here in Illinois we had a nearly a week of below zero temperatures. Thrown on top of those temperatures was snow, rain, ice, fog and very little sun. After a few snowstorms and starting to see some accumulation that we expected to see for some time, the warming trend returned, and this past weekend and previous week was foggy and more fog. On a positive note, this past weekend was the Daytona 24-hour car race, which is the start of race season here in the US, at least races held outdoors. While I was not able to attend this year’s event, from the TV coverage I was able to see, it appeared a very large number of people did make it to the sunshine state and the race had great weather for the fans.

Our first image this month is from this past weekend, with some fog hanging over the Great River Bridge connecting Burlington IA and Gulfport IL with highway US 34. This unique design was completed in October of 1993 and replaced a bridge that was built around 1918. While the bridge was being constructed, there was the Great Flood of 1993, with some of the highest stage levels ever recorded at that time. The previous bridge was the only option to cross the river between the Quad Cities and Saint Louis. Since the new bridge has been opened, the record flood level in the area was eclipsed in 2008, when the river crested near 22.5 feet, for reference near this location, flood stage is 10 feet and currently the river stage is at just under 4 feet. Strangely, the railroad bridge in the distance is the third to be built, the first one being constructed in 1868 and at the time was the first all metal bridge to cross the Mississippi River. The current railroad bridge was completed in 2011, after a Coast Guard study found the previous unit was struck often by barges, since the crossing is a major artery for the Burlington Northern Railroad, a redesigned structure was installed. First Image Camera Data: 50mm 1/125 sec F13 ISO200

We stay in the same area of Burlington IA but this time we are across the river in Illinois at my go to location for American Bald Eagles during the winter. Earlier in the week the Army Corp of Engineers estimated over 700 eagles in the area, so it was a chance to see many eagles. The weather forecast indicated fog for most of the morning, so I slept in longer than normal to allow the fog to dissipate. Mother Nature had other plans, when I arrived at 10:30am the fog was the best I would see for the next 6 hours. Once I was out along the river, the fog was getting thicker and thicker to the point I could not see halfway across the river. When I first arrived, I could barely see the trees on the Iowa side of the river but there were many eagles in the area, but it was hard to see with all the fog. This bird was able to capture some breakfast, and this was only one of four eagles I took pictures of during the day. The fog started to lighten up with the higher winds in the afternoon but was never great for capturing photos of the eagles – landscapes were a different story. Can't win them all, maybe next time. Camera Data: 800mm 1/2500 sec F7.1 ISO3200

Here's a link to download the appropriate version of this month's image for your desktop, one for standard screens and one for wide-screens along with a Mobile Phone Image. For desktop computers or tablets, Right click on the text for the format you need and select Save As, save to a location on your device and change the background as needed for your OS.

For Mobile devices, most mobile phones are straight forward to download images but Apple users might need a few tips.
Apple iOS Downloads - click the Mobile Phone link to open the image:
Without 3D Touch enabled - tap and hold on the image, select Save Image
With 3D Touch enabled - tap and hold but with no pressure on the screen, select Save Image

If anyone has problems or questions with their mobile device, let me know and I will try to assist.

http://www.timlesterimages.com/calendar/february.html

Enjoy the images this month and let me know if you have any questions or comments!

Tim Lester

TIM LESTER IMAGES
Email: tim@PROTECTED
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