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14-Dec-2011 Jim Stiles

_MG_62184.jpg

Harrison River, British Columbia, Canada

Bald Eagles

Today I drove up to Harrison Mills, British Columbia, Canada based on a tip that there were "thousands" of bald eagles. Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration but I would say there hundreds and possibly up to a thousand! The largest congregation of bald eagles I've ever seen.

Get this, as I was getting setup at the car to head out and start shooting I realized I left most of my data cards at home! It forced me to be judicious with my shooting and I kind of liked that. A good discipline to get used to.


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Frank Kavanagh Photography16-Dec-2011 23:07
I'd love to witness this event, but it's a bit out of the way for me.
Great shot and thanks for the info on the feeding eagles.
Guest 16-Dec-2011 04:31
Beautiful image and capture,nice work. Amazing story of the eagles and salmon too.
Jim Stiles16-Dec-2011 03:02
Thanks everyone for your kind comments! What do a thousand bald eagles eat? How about thousands and thousands of spawned salmon. The smell was rather pungent and there were dead fish carcasses literally everywhere. I was planning on getting some rather abstract shots of the skeletons and carcasses but it was starting to rain and I was about a mile or two from my car

Probably the most intriguing part of the whole experience was to see 100-200 eagles soaring around in circles a couple of hundred feet up in the air. They would fly around for a while then head back to the trees and later do it all over again. I witnessed this cycle three different times. It looked like it was one big happy social event. Most of the birds were juveniles with a small number adults joining in. And, I was the only person there to witness these behaviors and enjoy being with the eagles.

I did run into a man who worked for the fisheries department (counting dead fish) who told me the numbers we were seeing yesterday are very consistent.

If anyone would like to go visit this spot its really very easy to get to. From my house it was about a three hour drive up north.

--Jim--
hal 16-Dec-2011 00:11
A fine shot Jim. And a couple of interesting comments.
Being economical on shooting is a good idea.
Some say that they take thousands of shots on an outing.
l can't imagine wading though thousands of shots to get a few.
And Pete's good point. What do a 1000 eagles in one area live on ??
Pete Hemington15-Dec-2011 21:18
What on earth is there for them all to eat?
Nice contrasty shot
Please see comments on a couple of previous postings
Guest 15-Dec-2011 16:51
A very nice capture Jim!!!
Guest 15-Dec-2011 15:48
Superb shot... this would make a spectacular large print.
Terry_O15-Dec-2011 06:28
A great pair, Jim! Looks like you trip was well worth
while! Difficult lighting with that bright sky and dark bird. You
handled it well!