Summer With The Eagles

"WIND BENEATH YOUR WINGS"

*Due to size reduction from 8x10, quality and color of individual photographs were greatly reduced. Better viewing on a full screen format.

"My Summer With The Eagles"

Like most individuals in this area, at times we take our natural resources for granted. We see the snow capped mountains rising out of our bays and inlets; we give them nothing but a glance. We see an American Bald Eagle soaring overhead; we may glance up at them but never giving them much thought, as we have grown accustomed to seeing them everyday. When I first took up photography two years ago, I swore that I would not take that many Eagle shots, as everyone photographs the Eagle.

However, last winter, having no better subject to shoot, I started photographing the American Bald Eagle. I was amazed that they were a great subject, many of them posing for you as if they wanted their pictures taken. However, I did not know what the future had in store for me through my viewfinder.

In May, a large spruce tree with an eagle nest was discovered less than a mile from my home. Two adult Eagles were busy preparing it for new arrivals. I had the very fortunate opportunity to photograph this nesting pair of American Bald Eagles throughout the long summer days. I did not visit the nest every day; however, no two days elapsed that I did not visit. I would spend anywhere from an hour to three hours, just watching the development of the family. From the time the initial eggs were laid into the nest until the day they left the nest, I had the rare opportunity to photograph the entire sequence of events. However, more importantly, I learned a great deal about the Bald Eagles and formed a great respect for them.

Both parents took turns incubating the eggs, while one was taking care of chores at home, the other would be on a feeding mission to prepare for the next watch. The same protocol followed when the eggs were hatched. One parent would sit with the chicks while the other was feeding. Upon returning to the nest, they would return with food for the young ones and they would take turns breaking off pieces and feeding them. One parent always remained in the nest with the babies. In this particular hatch, there were three babies born. The experts tell us that typically in a brood of three, one will not survive.

By early July, the youngsters were similar in size to their parents. At this point, the nest was getting to small to house both the chicks and parents. The parents would only return to the nest to deposit food, however, one of them remained on guard in an adjoining tree. As they got bigger, like all children, they loved to roughhouse and unfortunately, one fell out of the nest. A day later, it was back in the nest, how that was achieved, I am not sure because he had not started to learn how to fly. The nest was about 20 – 30 feet off the ground. As they grew in size, both parents would leave the nest to hunt for food.

I had assumed that the parents took an active role in teaching the youngsters how to fly. They seem to learn on their own pace and I noted they always watch the parents coming into and departing the nest. Their first flight lessons began with partially spreading their wings and jumping up and down in the nest. At the commencement of this exercise, they would jump several inches in the air. With time and patience, they were adept at jumping several feet into the air and landing in the nest. The next step was to jump onto an adjoining limb of the tree and jump off into the nest. This was their pre-flight training.

It was during one of these exercises that most aggressive one evidently misjudged the nest and ended up on the ground. I could hear him in the under brush cackling to his parents. He did change locations several times, I did not venture into discovering his location as not to disturb them. I did see the parents fly overhead and drop food to him. A couple of days later, he was back in the nest and continuing his flight training.

Likely, the most touching thing I saw was one afternoon during a heavy downpour. It had rained all night. Arriving at the nest, I could only count two of them in the nest. Then their wings separated, the third chick was lying between the other two, the chicks on the outside each had a wing over the top of the chick in the middle. As I watched, they took turns lying between their siblings, getting a little warmth and shelter from the rain.

By mid August, the parents stayed away from the nest for longer periods, only to return long enough to drop off food. The day finally came that I arrived at the nest to discover that it was empty; the youngsters had found the wind beneath their wings. I returned a couple of more times, but never saw them return to their nest. Come this spring, I will once again visit the nest and just perhaps one will stop by to look at their former home.

Was the many hours I spent sitting and watching the Eagle Family worth the time and effort? I will do it again if given the opportunity to watch and learn as I did with the five Eagles that I had the privilege of watching this past summer.

American Bald Eagle

"WIND BENEATH MY WINGS"

My Summer With The Eagles

Like most individuals in this area, at times we take our natural resources for granted. We see the snow capped mountains rising out of our bays and inlets; we give them nothing but a glance. We see an American Bald Eagle soaring overhead; we may glance up at them but never giving them much thought, as we have grown accustomed to seeing them everyday. When I first took up photography two years ago, I swore that I would not take that many Eagle shots, as everyone photographs the Eagle.

However, last winter, having no better subject to shoot, I started photographing the American Bald Eagle. I was amazed that they were a great subject, many of them posing for you as if they wanted their pictures taken. However, I did not know what the future had in store for me through my viewfinder.

In May, a large spruce tree with an eagle nest was discovered less than a mile from my home. Two adult Eagles were busy preparing it for new arrivals. I had the very fortunate opportunity to photograph this nesting pair of American Bald Eagles throughout the long summer days. I did not visit the nest every day; however, no two days elapsed that I did not visit. I would spend anywhere from an hour to three hours, just watching the development of the family. From the time the initial eggs were laid into the nest until the day they left the nest, I had the rare opportunity to photograph the entire sequence of events. However, more importantly, I learned a great deal about the Bald Eagles and formed a great respect for them.

Both parents took turns incubating the eggs, while one was taking care of chores at home, the other would be on a feeding mission to prepare for the next watch. The same protocol followed when the eggs were hatched. One parent would sit with the chicks while the other was feeding. Upon returning to the nest, they would return with food for the young ones and they would take turns breaking off pieces and feeding them. One parent always remained in the nest with the babies. In this particular hatch, there were three babies born. The experts tell us that typically in a brood of three, one will not survive.

By early July, the youngsters were similar in size to their parents. At this point, the nest was getting to small to house both the chicks and parents. The parents would only return to the nest to deposit food, however, one of them remained on guard in an adjoining tree. As they got bigger, like all children, they loved to roughhouse and unfortunately, one fell out of the nest. A day later, it was back in the nest, how that was achieved, I am not sure because he had not started to learn how to fly. The nest was about 20 – 30 feet off the ground. As they grew in size, both parents would leave the nest to hunt for food.

I assumed that the parents took an active role in teaching the youngsters how to fly. They seem to learn on their own pace and I noted they always watch the parents coming into and departing the nest. Their first flight lessons began with partially spreading their wings and jumping up and down in the nest. At the commencement of this exercise, they would jump several inches in the air. With time and patience, they were adept at jumping several feet into the air and landing in the nest. The next step was to jump onto an adjoining limb of the tree and jump off into the nest. This was their pre-flight training.

It was during one of these exercises that most aggressive one evidently misjudged the nest and ended up on the ground. I could hear him in the under brush cackling to his parents. He did change locations several times, I did not venture into discovering his location as not to disturb them. I did see the parents fly overhead and drop food to him. A couple of days later, he was back in the nest and continuing his flight training.

Likely, the most touching thing I saw was one afternoon during a heavy downpour. It had rained all night. Arriving at the nest, I could only count two of them in the nest. Then their wings separated, the third chick was lying between the other two, the chicks on the outside each had a wing over the top of the chick in the middle. As I watched, they took turns lying between their siblings, getting a little warmth and shelter from the rain.

By mid August, the parents stayed away from the nest for longer periods, only to return long enough to drop off food. The day finally came that I arrived at the nest to discover that it was empty; the youngsters had found the "wind beneath their wings". I returned a couple of more times, but never saw them return to their nest. Come this spring, I will once again visit the nest and just perhaps one will stop by to look at their former home.

Was the many hours I spent sitting and watching the Eagle Family worth the time and effort? I will do it again if given the opportunity to watch and learn as I did with the five Eagles that I had the privilege of watching this past summer. I not only learned a great deal about the Eagles, more importantly I learned patience.

Alaska Brown Bear

In August 2010, I had the pleasant opportunity to be a guest at the Hallo Bay Bear Camp, situated on the northerly border of Katmai National Park on the Alaska Peninsula. It was an experience of a lifetime, to observe and photograph the largest members of the Bear family, the Alaska Brown Bear. It was the time of the season that they went about their seasonal salmon fishing trips. In a short period of time, they feed heavily in preparation of the oncoming winter months of hibernation.

Although, I was taking still pictures, I have assembled a number of them that I had taken in sequence into a video format for viewing. During my two days stay at Hallo Bay, with the assistance of our guides we were within 20 – 30 feet of some of these bears. It you have considered a trip to do some “Bear Watching”, I would recommend at a minimum an overnight stay. After my personal experience at Hallo Bay, I would strongly recommend the good folks at “Hallo Bear Camp”. They are true professionals in all respects. They are headquartered in Homer, Alaska.

The address for Hallo Bay Bear Camp is P.O. Box 2904, Homer, Alaska 99603. Their telephone number is 907-235-2237 or 1-888-535-2237. Their website is www.hallobay.com and receives email at hallobay@acsalaska.net

Solstice Lunar Eclipse

Tonight, was a great night. In Alaska, we were fortunate to have a beautiful, clear sky with the full moon shining overhead. Many of us watched our clocks for the countdown of the Solstice Lunar Eclipse. However, in Alaska because the time zone, our Solstice Eclipse actually started on January 20th. For me, it was something that I have looked forward to for the past two months. Having traveled thousands of miles around the world and at the age of 65, I have never seen a full Lunar Eclipse. During each eclipse during my lifetime, I have either been in the wrong hemisphere or it has been cloudy. Tonight, I enjoyed the opportunity especially with the knowledge that this particular timing of the eclipse and Winter Solstice will not occur for another eighty-four years. Early into the evening under the full moon, very few stars were showing. As the moon begin moving into darkness, the stars started popping out. The other thing that I noted was that just prior to the moon being fully engulfed, dogs around the community started barking. In the distance, I also heard several coyotes howling at the moon that was slowly disappearing.

"One Hour Prior To Eclipse"

"Full Moon" "Lunar Eclipse Commences"

"Quarter Eclipse"

"Approaching Half Eclipse"

"Three Quarter Eclipse"

"Approaching Total Eclipse"

"The Moon Has Been Darkened"

The reversal of the Lunar Eclipse was just as spectacular, at 12:52 am (AST) the moon has been restored to about 75% of it's full size and once again, the stars have been swallowed up by the light of the moon. In the excitement of being able to see this once in a lifetime Solstice Eclipse, we tend to forget that it also marks the time where we will once again be gaining additional daylight each day. The first sign that spring is coming. "It Was A Good Night"

Dall Sheep ~ Mountain Monarchs

Once again, I got lucky! Although, I had a decent shot of a small Dall Sheep Ram to fulfill my "bucket list for 2010", I really wanted some pictures of a trophy ram. I spent a lot of hours last winter after January 1st looking for that one shot that I needed without success. The exception was that I did get some great shots of a Ewe teaching a Dall Lamb how to jump the crevices. Which was a very special in having the opportunity to witness this interaction between mother and baby.

I just returned today from a quick trip to Anchorage and not only had a chance to photograph the Dall Sheep on my north bound trip, but also again today on my return trip around Turnagain Arm. One herd was comprised of three big rams, pushing of exceeding full curls on each of the rams. In this herd, there were 12 -15 Ewes and Lambs. The second herd was led by one single, full curl ram and a half dozen ewes.

For a little while, I thought I would have the opportunity to witness two of the Rams in the large herd have a confrontation. One advanced up the mountain to meet a second Ram watching the Ewes from a vantage point. They approached each other hesitantly, the Ram laying down stood up to meet him, they came nose to nose, rubbed shoulders, and they both returned to the band of Ewes.

The great thing about this particular photo shoot, three of my grandchildren had the opportunity to see their first Dall Sheep from the comfort of a warm car. They had the opportunity of watching their grandfather squatting in the snow, when a Dall Ewe walked up almost within touching distance of me. The Dall Sheep are magnificent animals, living in a very harsh environment of cold, snow, and wind.

"Resting On the Mountain"

"Girl Watching"

"On Guard And Watching"

"Dall Lambs Digging For Food"

"Family Unit ~ Ram, Ewe, And Lambs"

"Keeping A Eye On the Band"

"Holding the High Ground"

Wild Babies

Watching young wildlife is always entertaining. They are given very little time to learn the skills of survival from their parents. If you are patient, you can sit for long periods of time watching the adults teach their young how to adapt to the new world.

Stone Steep Lamb ~ Yukon TerritoryDall Sheep Lamb ~ Turnagain Arm, Alaska

Young Bald Eagles Learning To Fly ~ Anchor Point, Alaska

Twin Moose Calves ~ Anchor Point, Alaska

Lunchtime For Wild Colt ~ North Dakota

Whitetail Fawn ~ Thompson Falls, Montana

Rocky Mountain Big Horn Lamb ~ Thompson Falls, Montana

Colt Wild Burro ~ Black Hills, South Dakota

Mule Deer Fawn ~ North Dakota Calf Buffalo ~ Yukon Territory

Obstinate Calf Caribou and Young Mother

Alaska Brown Bear

Today, I spent the better part of the day cataloging some of my photographs. In reviewing my Brown Bear Photos from Hallo Bay, Alaska they brought back so many fond memories, thought I would post a few more. That particular trip was so rewarding, not only the opportunity to see the bears up close but to also learn a great deal when dealing with wildlife. I have applied the same practices that I learned from the experts at Hallo Bay in to other species with great results.

"A Old Brownie Taking It Easy In The Grass"

This particular photo, I was not aware of it until today, he is busy salmon fishing, but I am not sure if he was thinking of a salmon snack or if fishing was just boring to him. I was across the river from him, but the river is only 30 - 40 foot wide.

As the younger bears ran up and down the river trying to catch a healthy, swimming salmon, this guy was just patient and waited for the main run to start.

Although, this bear appears to be charging me, he is actually chasing a salmon but when you have a bear his size running, the water does have a tendency to fly. This time of the year, you see very few "dry" bears.

This good looking Brownie thinks he is late in getting to the fishing grounds, notice that he is in such a hurry that only one of his big paws is on the ground. They can cover a lot of ground in a hurry when they want to.

Mule Deer

Basically there are three species of Deer in North America, Mule Deer, Whitetail Deer, and the Blacktail Deer. The Mule Deer can easily be identified by the black tip on the tail with the underside of the tail being white. The Whitetail Deer will have no black and the entire underside is comprised of white hair. Typical of them, when they run, their they stick their tail straight up in the air as a flag. The Blacktail Deer is the smallest of the deer family and will have black hair on the underside of the tail. As in most of the deer family, the males will form horns, dependent on it's age. The females or does will remain anterless. The Whitetail Buck will normally have larger antlers in circumference and they will have a wider spread. The Mule Deer Buck will typically have smaller diameter horns but they will spread and grow higher than those of the Whitetail.

I was somewhat concerned about finding a large Mule Deer Buck, I feel very fortunate to have seen several which I would classify as trophy type animals. The Mule Deer can be found throughout the western United States and some areas in Canada. In some states, the population has diminished over the past few years due to a disease inherent to the Mule Deer. However, I was fortunate to see a good number, much better than I had expected. The name of the Mule Deer is derived from it's ears, larger than the others in the deer family. Their hearing is very keen and will spook easily by an unfamiliar sound.

Mule Deer Buck ~ Missouri Breaks, North Dakota

Mule Deer Buck ~ Missouri Breaks, North Dakota

Mule Deer Buck ~ Missouri Breaks, North Dakota

Mule Deer Buck ~ Toad River, British Columbia, Canada

Mule Deer Doe and Fawn ~ National Bison Range, Montana

Mule Deer Doe and Fawn ~ National Bison Range, Montana

Mule Deer Doe and Twin Fawns ~ Badlands, North Dakota

Mule Deer Doe and Twin Fawns ~ Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

The "Bear"

During the year of 2010, I had the opportunity to photograph three species of those bears that inhabit North America. The Black Bear, Brown Bear, and Grizzly Bear. I would love to photograph the remaining specie, the Polar Bear, however, to accomplish that task I would need to fly to the western and northern coast of Alaska. My primary objective was to photograph those species that can be obtained from our normal highway system. There is one, possibly two sub species of these bears that are found in southeast Alaska and western Canada. They would include the Cinnamon Bear and a nearly white bear that is known as the "Spirit Bear" in western Canada. This particular specie of bear could also be a sub-specie of the Brown or Grizzly Bear.

Black Bear Boar ~ Buffalo Bill State Park ~ Wyoming

Grizzly Sow ~ Shoshone River Valley ~ Wyoming

Grizzly Sow And Cub ~ Shoshone River Valley ~ Wyoming

Brown Bear ~ Hallo Bay, Alaska

Brown Bear ~ Hallo Bay, Alaska

Brown Bear ~ Hallo Bay, Alaska

Elk

Although, all of our antlered wildlife are beautiful animals and unique in their own way. I have a special fondness for the Elk. They are such a regal animal, their size and antler structure marks them as the monarch of their habitat area. It is amazing how gracefully they can move through heavy timber, despite the size of their antlers. In my travels this fall, I can happily report that our Elk population is very strong throughout the western states. I saw Elk in the Yukon Territory, British Columbia, Alberta, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arizona. The biologists maintain that there are two species of Elk, the Mountain Elk and the Prairie Elk. Although, I could not tell the difference unless it was in the horn structure and body weight. In South Dakota, I had perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity when I had the chance to see seventeen Bull Elk in a large meadow. Several other Bull Elk were already moving into the heavy timber which I did not count. I would estimate that there were at least twenty-five Bull Elk herded up. Their size ranged from spikes to large "Royals". There was not a single cow of calf in the area. While watching them, hoping for better photography light, I had the chance to see several of the bulls sparring with one another. The night prior to seeing them, I had siwashed out and could hear their bugling throughout the night. Like themselves, their "bugle call" is distinct and a sound that you never tire of hearing.

~ Colorado ~

First snow of the season, the Bull in the next two pictures had a herd of nine cows and one "Spike Bull" that kept getting chased away by the herd Bull.

"Bugling Bull"

JASPER NATIONAL PARK ~ CANADA This particular "Royal" had a herd of eleven cows with him and provided me a couple of hours of entertainment in photographing him and his herd.

~ MONTANA ~

This monster Bull Elk was perhaps the largest Bull that I saw on my trip. The "rut" had not yet started and he was traveling with three smaller Bulls.

Black Hills ~ South Dakota

This "Royal" was considering the rut, although he was "bugling", he was conserving his energy for any bulls that wanted to challenge him as well as resting up for the rut.