Auke Bay - Eagles (July-September 2021)
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Bald eagles, hunted for bounties in Territorial Days, formerly threatened and decimated elsewhere by DDT, and now protected everywhere, are thriving in Southeast Alaska. Salmon hatcheries may have contributed to an abundance of eagle-friendly food.
Avian flu doesn't, to lay eyes, seem to be making any impact on local populations. There are a lot of bald eagles in the trees and skies of Southeast Alaska.
And there are a lot in Auke Bay, where they move about alone or sometimes with a like-minded eagle twenty yards away. They flap and glide, powering or ghosting one or maybe two at a time, from one place to another in the bay in continual search for food. They don't travel or gather in flocks but they often wind up in the same vicinity doing roughly the same things, especially if there is a potential food source. They don't seem to act in concert, but they do seem to individually study what the others are doing, and follow suit if it seems like a good idea; if ten are sitting on a dock railing, it is probably because by objective eagle standards it is the best place to be and the best vantage spot at the moment, not because of there is any interest in socializing. Their remarkable eyesight allows them to see that a distant eagle has found promising conditions, causing others to head individually for the same spot. Much of they time they just wait, perched on shore or arrayed in tall trees, waiting for something to happen, like Romans ringing the Coliseum floor.
They are interesting to humans simply because of their size and the power of their wing beats as they pass nearby and the eerie silence if they simply glide past. They and their shadows on bright days move with direct purpose.
Perhaps they take a quiet pleasure in being able to fly, but if so, it isn't obvious. They have the ability to be surprisingly agile in the air despite their size and weight, especially - it seems - when they confront other eagles that might be encroaching or when they might try to charm a possible mate. In general they don't bother to respond when crows harass them, probably because they can't compete in agility and are pretty invulnerable anyway. They don't seem to revel, like crows, in the sheer fun of aerobatics or group play, or, like ravens, in one-on-one aerial displays. Certainly they don't and probably can't engage in swallow-like swoops and instant direction changes. They are business-like in their day-to-day chores. The daily goal is efficient food gathering.
That said, they are compelling, flaunting bad-boy spiked head feathers, while staring with golden eyes in fierce hooded concentration. And even after having seen and photographed many and studied them on screen, it is impossible to ignore them.
Powered flight:
Perching, staring:
Fierce gaze, bad-boy hair:
The swept-back look:
Individuals, reaching similar conclusions, arrive and gather in non-flocks.
A plastic owl hasn't discouraged this immature eagle from using the dock as a vantage point.
These eagles find the railing useful. The wires don't make it less useful.
These individuals reached similar conclusions about the desirability of being near the salmon stream at a particular time.
A few other individuals leave.
Sometimes a perch isn't big enough for two.
The victor crows about it,
but almost immediately leaves. Can a bald eagle be a dog in the manger?
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After a lifetime of mainly expressing myself with words, my postings here will mainly rely on images. They will speak for themselves to some extent, but I'll usually add a few comments of explanation. I've taken photographs for decades, since the 1950's, inspired in part by my father's photographic skill. Four years of photo assignments and quality darkroom time eventually gave way to decades of casual and family picture-taking. I re-immersed myself when I left film and turned to digital.