Tag Archives: Ealges
Bald eagle sunning after a rain
Even eagles need to get dry. On the lodge’s wilderness tours it is not uncommon to see bald eagle with their wings spread either enjoying the sun or drying after a rain shower. Glen’s photo also shows a pretty good balancing act if you look closely this eagle is standing on one foot while spreading it’s wings. Not the average bird show.
Excellent eagle photo
One of the guides, Glen, captures an eagle picking up a fish. You know that it is a good photo when you can zoom in on the eye and it is still sharp and in focus. Eagles are abundant in all our tour areas during the spring and summer; however the numbers decline once the salmon arrive in the local river and the eagle move for closer access to the salmon. That just means there are more eagles on the tour to the grizzly bears on the Glendale River and we have to look a little harder to locate them on a whale watching tour.
Bald eagle
An almost white headed bald eagle. The Hancock Wildlife Foundation site states “Bald Eagles are not bald at all, but have a white head. Hundreds of years ago the English word for WHITE was BALDE and the word piebalde meant mottled with white, so the eagles with white heads were called Balde Eagles.” I use this quote to mention the Hancock Wildlife Foundation so if you are interested in bald eagles Google their name to arrive at their site where they have live webcams of an eagle’s nests.
Two for one Eagle Picture
Bald Eagles mate for life, as do most birds. However, if one dies or is lost, the one remaining will take a new mate. Although male and female eagles have the same coloring there is a difference in size. Females are about 1/3 larger than males. Another way to tell them apart is to measure the height of their bill. The female’s bill is always deeper than the male’s and usually has a larger hook than the males. All this being said it is still hard to tell which of these two is the male or female. It is definitely a mating pair because no two eagles would get this close to each other if they were not a mating pair.
Perfect Eagle Picture
Thanks Glen to one of the lodge’s guides we have the perfect eagle picture. An eagle coming down to pickup the pinky orange rock cod floating in the water. When the eagles are about the lodge and we have rockfish we gather guests on the floating dock and throw out the fish and this should be the result. The biggest problem is the one or two second delay on most digital cameras. Solution have a SLR digital to listen to the guide when he says click do it because that is your two second warning or all you will get is a tail shot or a ripple on the water.
The Four Austrians 5 of 11
Grizzly Bear Lodge’s day tour to view grizzly bears try to leave camp prior to 8:00 to arrive in Glendale Cove and make it to the viewing stands by 10:00. The viewing stands are used after August 24. The trip up Knight Inlet is always interesting and leaving early gives on more time to enjoy wildlife along the way. First, eagles are a constant interest and there are daily opportunities to some great photo in this case a rare shot of two mates sharing the same branch. For me this is ideal as it allows me to answer an often ask question “Is that a female or male eagle?” Answer “The female is larger and unless they are side by side it is hard to tell the size.” This photo solves that question for these two eagles. Second, pacific white-side dolphins are a constant joy and if I had my choice I could run with them all day. This was a perfect morning for the perfect picture. A glassy calm day on the water which reduces the boats rocking and also permits one to see under the water and know when a dolphin is about to break the surface. All that said an excellent picture such as this still requires many tries and a certain amount of luck.
Wildlife Viewing on Knight Inlet
The morning run up Knight Inlet on the grizzly bear tour is always interesting. It is a spectacular view, the lodge is located approximately 20 miles from the mouth, and the grizzly viewing area starts another 25 miles up the inlet, which is about 90 miles long. Eagles are abundant on the morning run this one being in the Glendale estuary the primary grizzly bear viewing area. Eagles are not always in trees it is not uncommon to watch them pick up a fish from the water and then land on shore to eat the “catch of the day”. Grant and Judith Fuller of Bangor NSW Australia provided the photos of the inlet and bald eagle.
