Coundown 365 ~ T- 240

"Miracle Of Nature"

It was ten days ago that I made my last posting, on August 18th, 2010. It was that day it was discovered that one of the Eaglets had left the nest. Although, I could hear him on the ground from my vantage point on the bluff I could never locate him. A few days later, the Eaglet had moved down the bluff line to a second location. Again, you could hear him calling and the adult birds would perch overlooking his / her location. The two Eaglets remaining in the nest also would look in the direction of his call. A fellow Eagle fan called me to report that she had spotted him part way up a Cottonwood tree, sitting on a branch. I spent several days photographing the adults and two remaining Eaglets without seeing the third. Today, I got a call from my friend and she reported that the Eaglet had returned to the nest. I could not believe it, I rushed over and spent two hours observing the nest and the three Eaglets. From his previous reported location, the infant would have had to travel 50 - 60 yards on the ground and then figured out a way to get up the Spruce Tree to where the nest is located. The nest is approximately 30 to 40 feet from ground level. Flying the distance can be ruled out because it is still practicing by jumping and flapping his wings. He is a non-flyer. Looking at the terrain, I can only assume, from the Cottonwood tree he was able to jump to a high branch, then to another tree and continue this process until he reached the nest. I doubt the adults could have lifted him into the nest since the little ones are now close to adult size. It will remain a mystery, as to how he got back into the nest, but he is once again home. He is a survivor. Today, during my time at the nest, I noted that all three of the Eaglets are now working hard to learn how to fly. Taking turns, flapping their wings, jumping up and down, and then jumping onto a close branch outside the nest. They are also getting more brazen as to where they sit, one decided to sit in the spruce boughs outside the nest because their normal perch was already being occupied by a sibling. During my two hour visit, the adults never showed up although the Eaglets kept calling for them, must have been dinner time.

Eagle Nest With Remaining Two Eaglets, Taken On August 26th

FAMILY UNITED "One Legged Perch? As Siblings Look On" This picture is misleading, it appears that it is perching on one leg, but that was not the case. The stick in his talons is actually a branch that was laying across their nest. This bird (Whitey) decided to get rid of it. First he tried using it's beak, could bend it up but not hold it. So he locked onto it with his talons to move it, however, if you follow the limb you will see that it is still attached the main tree. He finally bent it enough to get it out of their way. He worked on that branch for twenty minutes.

"New Perching Area ~ Spruce Boughs"

"Leg Muscle Exercises"

It appears that he is flying, however, he is jumping up and down rapidly and flapping his wings ~ just for practice. They are starting to clear more air in their jumping routine. The siblings watch each other very carefully in everything they do.

"Gaining More Air"

"Almost Ready To Fly" (Note One Eaglet Outside the Nest In Spruce Perch)

"Showing Off His Flying Skills To Siblings"

"The Family ~ Two On Outside Nest Perch and One In The Nest"

"More Practice Flights"

It has been a great summer, watching this entire scene unfold from birth to the time they fly the nest, I feel very privileged to have witnessed and have had the opportunity to photograph a portion of it. It has been a great learning experience.

Countdown 365 ~ T-230

I once again visited the Eagle nursery on Wednesday evening, a tough evening to shoot picture, for the first time in several weeks we had a sunny day. I was shooting directly into the sunset. Getting out of my truck a hundred yards from the nest, I could hear the adult Eagle squawking constantly. Arriving at my observation post, the reason become obvious, there were only two juveniles in the nest. The previous day there were three, one was becoming quite aggressive in it's attempt to take flight. I am hoping that this occurred. However, the adult eagle was in a tree, which I could not locate because of the vegetation. The adult would call and in short time, it would be answered by a screech, similar in sounding as to what I have heard coming from the eaglets in the nest. Again, assumption is that it possibly took flight and is now on the ground, being watch by the parent until it can fly or it fell from the nest and is being protected by the adult until it can fly. I did not scale down the bluff, not desiring to disturb them in the event that was the case. The adult, never left the unseen perch for the two hours that I sat and observed. I wish the first one out of the nest, the best of luck and hope it does feel the wind beneath it's wings. The two remaining occupants in the nest, continue to sleep less and spend a lot of time exercising their wings and jumping to a high branch above the nest.

"Preparing For Flight"

"Walking The Limb"

As fast as they have grown, they have kept their parents busy collecting food. This adult is delivering dinner, if you look closely, it is delivering a Dolly Varden to the nest for dinner.

"Fresh Char For Dinner"

The adults spend very little time in the nest, once again they were into the nest and out again, just long enough to deliver food and look around for a couple of minutes. However, the routine also changed tonight. Instead of going to their normal perching tree, the adult flew to the top of a spruce tree. From this point it had the vantage point to see the other adult and they shared along Eagle conversation.

"Talking To It's Mate"

A great spot to view over their Kingdom, from this tree the Eagle is looking down at the Anchor River, the marsh lands of the river, the beach area, and waters of Cook Inlet. You cannot get a better view than this. At the same time, it could see their nest and I am assuming the other adult Eagle. The Eagle Nursery sequence will soon be ending, in a way I feel sad and will miss them. But, I have also been given a gift to observe them from the time they were eggs until they

soared on their own. It has been a good summer.

"Watchful Eye"

Countdown 365 ~ T -222

Eagles and Brown Bears

It has been a few days since I last visited the Eagle nursery. After spending a couple of hours with them today, I am guessing that they are preparing themselves to fly the coop. Keeping the rapidly growing eaglets fed has become a full day chore for the parents, keeping them away from the nest for longer periods of time. I also noted today that the Eaglets are napping for shorter periods between their exercise periods. Today, I was able to observe the early stages of the self training efforts in the art of flying. The dominant Eaglet of the three continues to show her aggressiveness in learning to fly while the other two observe the operation. This afternoon, one of the adults made a quick stopover at the nest, just long enough to see how the little ones were doing. All three of the siblings watched her as she made her launch and flew away.

Today, being windy, each of the Eaglets would take turns standing on the edge of the nest and extending their wings facing into the wing. I am assuming to get the draft and the feel of the wind beneath their wings. After this exercise was completed, the dominate one decided to take it a step further and try a little airborne exercise. The first step was to stand on the edge of the nest, extending his wings into a "V" formation in preparation for flight.

The next step was to drop the spread wings, catching the draft for the lift off,

To assist in the take off, a small jump is required for the lift off

Not willing to take off into the wild blue wander, the feet return to the security of the nest, and then the next jump a little higher.

Then the next jump, a little higher! The two interesting things to note is that the siblings are watching the proceedings very closely and with each jump, his wings are at different angles, very similar to the takeoff procedure of the adults. All three of them spent most of their "awake time" working their wings and jumping.

Hallo Bay Being a sport fisherman, I found it fun to watch the Brown Bears fishing at Hallo Bay. Several of the bears reminded me of the techniques and personalities of a few of the fishermen that I have known.

This good looking guy was in a hurry to get the best observation spot on the river to watch for returning salmon.

Upon arriving at the "sweet spot" he promptly sat down, to watch for the sign of the fish,

At the right time, spotting the movement of a salmon, he charges into the river

He was fast, with more water splashing with each running jump

Closing in, the salmon is within his grasp, you can see the back of his target about three feet in front of him.

Unfortunately, he got "skunked" on this attempt and the "big one" got away, as in many fishing stories. Some of their techniques are quite unique. The favorite being, after spotting the fish, dive into the water despite how deep it is and try to push the fish towards the bank and into the shallow water where they can pounce on them. I have several shots, showing the bear almost totally submerged in their effort to catch their prey.

Countdown 365 ~ T-217/218 (Hallo Bay)

Although, I was delayed by a day due to weather conditions, the visit to Hallo Bay, Katmai National Park was well worth the short waiting period. We departed Homer on Friday afternoon, after a scenic flight over Anchor Point crossing Cook Inlet to the base of Mt Illiamna, before turning south to follow the Alaska Peninsula. In transit, we flew over Mt. Redoubt and Mt Douglas before landing on the beach at Hallo Bay. The total trip time was approximately 1.5 hours. Hallo Bay is located on the northerly border of Katmai National Park, situated on the Alaska Peninsula and the western shores of Shellikoif Straits opposite of Afognak Island. It is a beautiful pristine area with very small footprint of humans. I saw more Brown Bear and Wolf footprints than any sign of mankind. From the time we made our approach to make the beach landing until the time we took off, at anytime I could walk out to the "point" overlooking the beach area, approximately one hundred yards from the camp, I could see any number of bears on the beaches or from the distance a group of them fishing the small river just south of the camp. There is also a population of wolves and foxes in the area, often seen very close to camp. Unfortunately, I only saw one wolf and it was some distance from us. But that is alright, my primary focus at the time was to photograph the Brown Bears. Experienced and knowledgeable guides accompany you whenever you venture from camp, typically in very small groups. On my particular trips into the field there was never over four persons in the group. The camp is very neat, clean, very well organized, and well managed. I would strongly recommend their services. The lodging is very comfortable and a very well stocked kitchen and dining area. During my short stay in the area, I learned a great deal from both observing the bears and from the guides that accompanied us. Although, they are wild animals that could instantly kill a human, at no time did I feel uncomfortable about being around them in this particular location and time. When I say "around them", on a couple of occasions we were within 15 - 20 feet of a bear. These bears have had very little impact from humans, but as with any wild animal, you must be aware of your surroundings. Hallo Bay is an exclusive area, reserved for guests staying at the camp. Other bear viewing services operate in areas north and south of Hallo Bay. I would recommend Hallo Bay to you or your guests that are visiting the area. Although they do provide a one day Bear Viewing Trip, in and out of Homer the same day. I would recommend that you seriously look at the two day or longer trip and spend some time in the area to really appreciate the area and an adventure of a lifetime. During my stay, I shot 572 pictures of which I have just started sorting and organizing, these are just a start of the task.

"Hallo Bay"

"Rock Formation In Front of Camp"

We were on our first outing within the hour of our landing at Hallo Bay. We had just left the camp and walking the beach towards the river and the bears we had seen upon our landing. As we walked down the beach, the guide spotted a bear that was following behind us about a half mile. He had us sit down on the beach to make a lower profile and watched the bear as it wandered down the beach in our direction. I never thought, I would be this close to a Brown Bear and still feel comfortable. Although I was taking pictures of the bear as it approached us, the picture below was shot with no telephoto lens, as it passed between us and the surf, within twenty feet or less from us. He "eyeballed" us but went on his merry way to the fishing grounds as we followed behind at a safe distance. "The Eyes Tell All"

"Looking For the Rise"

"Aggressive Salmon Fisherman"

"Chasing Lunch"

This "old" Brownie came out in the meadow upstream above the high tide line, so we sat and observed him. He did put on a great show, rolling in the grass to scratch his back. After getting a little relief, he reverted to his stomach and munched away on a piece of driftwood. "Old Man On The River"

"Backscratching"

"The Old Man Giving Us A Look"

I can now mark the Brown Bear off of my "Bucket List", but I would surely like to return to Hallo Bay.

Coundown 365 ~ T-213

On Monday, I was able to capture the entire sequence of the arrival and departure of one of the adult Eagles to their nest. It was a very brief stop, not to deliver food but to check the security. Total lapse time of the visit was less than four minutes. The adult approached from the direction of their normal feeding area and departed in the opposite direction, assuming in search of a different feeding area. Still finding it difficult to pan the new lens due to the extra length and weight, but with patience and time, the adjustment will be made. Perhaps, it would be easier to get the Eagles to fly a little slower and not just pop up on the radar screen at cruising speed.

"Spotting The Parent"

"Eaglet's Giving Landing Directions"

"Over The Round Down" (U.S. Navy Talk)

"Flaps Down ~ Throttle Back"

"Touch Down"

"Viewing The Situation"

"Into The Wind"

"Launch"

"Leveling Off"

"Cruising Through The Leaves"

AM I HAVING FUN WITH MY EAGLES? P.S. I KNOW VIDEO WOULD BE EASIER, BUT NOT AS CHALLENGING.

Countdown 365 ~ T-212

"Sunday With The Eagles"

With beautiful, sunny weather I decided to spend a little time at the "Eagle Nest", it was time well spent. Arriving at my vantage point, the "kids" were awake and appeared to be having a heavy discussion, most likely involving when lunch was going to arrive. They prepared themselves by doing "wing exercises" with a new twist of jumping up and down at the same time. The little one in front appears to be in deep thought while the other two patiently await for him to gather his thoughts.

"The Meeting"

In short time, one of the adults did return to the nest with a snack for the little ones until their main lunch arrived. "Lunch Arriving"

The little ones were happy to see the food arrive, but were quick to point out that they had been waiting for a long time. Two of them was not happy with a meager serving that was dropped in the nest.

"About Time You Get Back"

The adult caught the first sighting of the mate also arriving at the nest with the remainder of the lunch menu.

"Here Comes More Food"

The mate very gracefully makes the final approach to the nest, drops the flaps, and goes in for the perfect landing, mostly likely showing off to the little ones as to how it is properly done. Because they are all relatively close in size, the nest is getting a little small to hold hold five Eagles. At last, I was going to get to see them all in the nest again.

"Clear To Land"

Well, the best laid plans often go astray, despite all the fancy landings that a Eagle makes, someone always seems to have a camera when the crash occurs. The landing ended up in a ball of feathers and wings draped over the little ones in the crash. Somewhere in this mass of feathers, there are five Eagles. The tail feathers of both adults and the head of one of the adults is visible, whose wing is whose is only a guess.

"Crash In The Nest"

Getting feathers sorted out, lunch was served, a short time later one of the adults decided to go seek a little solitude.

"Take Off"

After the feeding chores were completed, the second adult also vacated the nest under the watchful eyes of the little ones. This particular lunch consisted of a salmon fillet with the snack appearing to be a piece of troll herring. "Slipping The Bounds Of The Nest"