Eagle ways
At one point when I was watching the group of Bald eagles I found east of the Crowsnest Pass last weekend, one of the adults landed in a tree close to where I was set up. Looking closely, I saw that he had a Prairie dog in one of its claws.
He finished the meal quickly and then set about cleaning its beak and talons. He used the stubs on the branch to rub against and as leverage during the cleaning. I was fascinated with the fastidiousness with which he carried out this work.
When that was done, he provided a few great poses for portrait shots while scanning the fields for more creatures and the skies for his fellow eagles.
After a few minutes, he flew off to a larger tree nearby where the other three eagles were perched.
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A Bald eagle’s branch dance
I found an aerie of four Bald eagles east of the Crowsnest Pass this weekend. They perched in still dormant trees that divide up several farm fields. From these perches, they can hunt for the ground squirrels that scurry between their holes among the short grass. This eagle had just finished his meal and I caught him adjusting his position on the branch. It looked a bit like a line dancing sidestep to me.
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New Year’s Eve Eagles
A pair of Bald eagles were drawn to Redwood Meadows today. My daughter and I spotted them flying overhead when we were on our way to grab an ice cream cone in Bragg Creek. We stopped going there and again on the way back. They were drawn by a deer that had died near the golf course. Ravens were on the ground while the eagles bided their time above in the nearby trees.
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A gallery of Bald eagles
I have been wanting to upload more portfolios of wild animals as the two I have had up for a while (Grizzlies and Great blue herons) seem lonely. Towards that goal, I have uploaded a Bald eagle gallery this afternoon. These are images from trips to the Khutzeymateen Provincial Park, Brackendale during the winter salmon migration and closer to home on the prairies. These images are from the last couple of years. If you are interested in having a look, please click on the eagle picture above or this link. I hope you enjoy.
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Eagles in the Elk Valley
We were in Fernie a couple of weeks ago and on the drive home found a few Bald eagles who were flying around a carcass that had been pulled a few hundred meters off the highway. They scattered when we first stopped but came circling back around the trees and back to the easy meal. A nice break during the lean winter months.
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Eagle along the Cowboy Trail
Canon 5DIII and 500mm lens: 1/5oooth of a second on f/4 and ISO 1600
A Bald Eagle spent a couple of mornings in and around a field east of Bragg Creek where the prairie starts.
Canon 5DIII and 500mm lens: 1/5oooth of a second on f/4 and ISO 1600
He landed in the grass in one general spot a few times on the two days that I stopped to watch so I suspect there was a carcass that was an easy meal.
Canon 5DIII and 500mm lens: 1/25ooth of a second on f/4 and ISO 800
The only distraction came from a pair of ravens that pestered the eagle in the air and on the field. They proved to not be a significant deterrent as the eagle muscled them out away.
Canon 5DIII and 500mm lens: 1/5oooth of a second on f/4 and ISO 800
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An eagle’s easy snack
Canon 5DIII and 24-105mm lens at 99mm: 1/100oth of a second on f/4 and ISO 400
We had a great afternoon in Prince Rupert today. The marina in Cow Bay was busy with boats of many different stripes coming and going throughout the day. Seals popped up amongst the boats looking for scraps from the fishermen – a quick snack between meals. While several Bald Eagles flew by overhead looking for a similar handout. One group cleaned and divided up several large Halibut on one of the tables on the dock. This drew in the seals and one eagle. The seals made out quite well and at the end, a chunk of fish was left beside the table for the eagle.
Canon 5DIII and 24-105mm lens at 105mm: 1/250oth of a second on f/4 and ISO 1000
It swooped down from its piling, grabbed the fish and then flew off to eat. I was watching from across the marina on a wharf. When the eagle left the dock, it flew towards the wharf and flew right under me as it headed away. A good start to the weekend.
Canon 5DIII and 24-105mm lens at 70mm: 1/40oth of a second on f/4 and ISO 1000
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Eagle Skirmishes
An eagle enjoying a feast is not often left alone for too long in Brackendale. Finished spawning, the salmon drift downriver listlessly and eventually die naturally or with the assistance of the scavengers along the rivers. The effort is in pulling the fish out of the water. When that is done, competition often arrives to stake a claim. Skirmishes, jousting and all out fights can breakout before one eagle is chased off.
This eagle was unchallenged as we floated past but it kept its head on a swivel wary of potential thieves.
In another spot, there were a lot of fish along the rocks and a lot of eagles vying for them.
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Occasionally, as in the photograph below, an equilibrium of sorts will be found where a few eagles will take turns on a fish with little aggression.
However, one eagle soon came screaming in and upset the delicate balance.
There are many gulls that wait for opportunities to grab bits out of the water. When eagles aren’t around, they have similar battles over prime spots.
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Bald Eagles in Brackendale
Canon 5DIII + 500mm f/4 lens and 1.4X extender: 1/1000 of a second at f/6.3 on ISO 3200
I was in Brackendale, just north of Squamish, for a couple of days in December. Every year thousands of Bald Eagles congregate in this area along the banks of the Squamish River. There are three separate salmon spawning runs that overlap between November and February that result in dead and dying salmon littering the rocky shoreline. The easy dining is a draw for eagles, seagulls as well as the occasional otter and seal (which in turn are quite the draw for photographers as it turns out!) I was there for the Bald Eagles and was not disappointed in any way. The first day was spent along the berm, that serves as a main viewing point, a bit further upriver in an eddy where a particularly cool eagle was hanging out.
Canon 5DIII + 500mm f/4 lens and 1.4X extender: 1/1000 of a second at f/6.3 on ISO 3200
I will do a separate post from the second day when the snow fell and I was out on a birdwatching float down the river. For now, these images are from the first day where the overcast skies allowed for open shadows and allowed the texture and detail in the eagle plumage to be seen. It was pretty dark at times as you can tell by the ISO settings I was using but it was a great day filled with eagles coming and going.
Canon 5DIII + 500mm f/4 lens and 1.4X extender: 1/1000 of a second at f/5.6 on ISO 4000
There are so many fish that serious fights appear to be rare but eagles are opportunistic so there are still skirmishes where one will try to chase off another who has already gone through the effort of retrieving a salmon out of the water.
Canon 5DIII + 500mm f/4 lens and 1.4X extender: 1/1000 of a second at f/6.3 on ISO 4000
Others preferred a little more distance from their brethren. This eagle hung out on a perch in the middle of a pond-like eddy off the river. At one point it called out but it didn’t fly over to the scattered groups of eagles in the trees across the water nor did any of them come over to visit.
Canon 5DIII + 500mm f/4 lens: 1/800 of a second at f/4.5 on ISO 1600
Canon 5DIII + 500mm f/4 lens: 1/1000 of a second at f/6.3 on ISO 2000
It splashed around in the shallow water for a while, stopping to snack for a minute, but seemed to return to this stick as its preferred resting spot.
Canon 5DIII + 500mm f/4 lens: 1/1600 of a second at f/4 on ISO 1600
Canon 5DIII + 500mm f/4 lens: 1/1600 of a second at f/4 on ISO 1000
Canon 5DIII + 500mm f/4 lens: 1/2000 of a second at f/4 on ISO 800
Canon 5DIII + 500mm f/4 lens: 1/2000 of a second at f/4 on ISO 1600
I never tired of watching these eagles flying. I think they are one of the most beautiful birds to watch in flight. It was a great day on BC’s west coast.
Canon 5DIII + 500mm f/4 lens and 1.4X extender: 1/1000 of a second at f/6.3 on ISO 3200
Canon 5DIII + 500mm f/4 lens: 1/1000 of a second at f/4 on ISO 3200
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Merry Christmas!
Winter Flight – A Bald eagle flies under falling snow in Brackendale, B.C. on December 20th, 2013
December has been a busy end to a busy year. It is nice to have a few days over Christmas to spend time at home with my family. I hope you are able to do the things that make for a great holiday for you and yours. Merry Christmas!
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Beak to talon
There was one additional encounter with a Bald eagle in the Khutzeymateen that I really enjoyed. The rain cleared on the evening of the second day and the weather was beautiful on the morning of the third day. We were crossing the inlet heading towards the side where the sun had just reached down the mountains to the shoreline. An eagle was lit beautifully as it perched on a rock exposed during low tide.
At first I thought it was watching the seagulls at the mouth of the creek it was perched beside. We watched it for a while as it surveyed its dominion. It seemed in no rush to join the fray as the gulls jostled for scraps of fish that floated downstream from a bear working on the salmon up in the creek hidden in the forest.
When it took flight clutching the tail end of a salmon in its beak that it had pulled out of a little nook, I realized it had been pausing between feasts. Watching it pass right in front of our boat, I had a few good images. When it started to climb off the water, it passed the fish from to its talons, presumably allowing for more comfortable flight.
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I loved the light and the sense of place in the flight images. When the eagle passed the fish back, it was the defining moment of the encounter for me.
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Eagles in the Khutzeymateen
The Grizzly bears are the kings of the Khutzeymateen’s wildlife. In the air, the eagles hold a similar position among the birds along the ten mile inlet. Most were Bald eagles but a few Golden eagles were also in residence to enjoy the salmon runs that were in full swing.
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Constant adversaries on the prairies, eagles and ravens, were occasionally found chasing one or the other around the towering pines.
Often adolescents were dining on the fish in the creeks alongside the seagulls. That may have been much less trouble than jousting with their elders for the prime fishing locations at the mouth of the estuary.
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When the heavy rain would roll down the valley, most of the eagles would weather it in the open on a raised perch of one type or another. They probably don’t care too much about it but on the first two days where there were few breaks in the downpour, I thought there must be at least a few that hunted around for shelter. I didn’t find them but the exposed raptors provided a good subject when the bears were not to be found.
When the rain did stop, the wings were unfolded to air dry and the daily activities resumed.
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Photographing the eagles throughout the trip into the Khutzeymateen was one of the collective highlights. I’m fortunate to see them occasionally on the prairies but it was a real pleasure to be able to watch them along the coastline and up in the tops of the rainforest.
