Ninilchik (7/4/10) and Anchor Point (7/5 & 7/6/10), Alaska

"Hey Good lookin"

Going

Going

Going (If you can, zoom in on these next two pictures look at its feet. I love the way the water and droplets are frozen in time! )

Gone! You can actually see the drops reflected in the pool. Now that is some glass!

This is a Juvenile Eagle probably in its first year becasue it's bill is not yet turning yellow.

A Bald Eagle feeding on a fish carcass while 4 Juvenile Eagles hang out in the background.

You can tell by the white water that this boat is not moving slow! The tide is higher in this picutre so the tractor is not as deep as in the next picture.

Tractor pulling a fishing boat out of the water

The Kenai Peninsula is a very popular fishing destination for both humans and birds. So it was no surprise when we walked on the shore of Ninilchik (Ni-nil-chick) that there were hoards of gulls feeding on fish carcasses that had either washed up on shore or been dumped there by a fishing charter company that was either too cheap or not environmentally conscious enough to have the remains disposed of properly. One advantage to this scenario was there were tons of Eagles in the area taking advantage of the free meal. The disadvantage was the smell. I wonder if we would smell like fish when we left here just because of the exposure. :-D The campsite we had while staying here was at Deep Creek State Recreation Area and was right on the shore. It was wonderful to be able to sit in the "home" and watch Bald Eagles fly by while at the same time watch the fishing charters coming and going. First thing in the morning when the early charters would head out it reminded me of being in Cabo San Lucas watching all the boats leaving the Gulf of Mexico headed out to the Pacific in search of that prized Marlin, only here it is the Halibut that is coveted. But the Halibut is not sought for its "trophy" value, it is caught for consumption. We spent a couple days here taking what seemed like hundreds of pictures of Eagles then moved 20 miles south down the coastline to Anchor Point. There we stayed at Halibut State Campground. This campground was within a very short walking distance of a very popular launch area for fishing charters. It was amazing to see this process. The owner/captain of the boat would pull up to a parking lot at the top of the launch area and disconnect the boat. A huge tractor would then hitch up to the boat and everyone that was going on the charter would either get on or were already on board. The tractor would then proceed to haul it out to deep water. The motion of the tractor moving in reverse and the engines of the boat would propel it off the trailer and on its way to catch fish. When their day was done the process would begin again this time with the tractor in the water and the boat's captain heading for the trailer at a pretty good clip. Without hesitation a young man on the back of the trailer would hook the boats safety line as soon as the boat was in position and in what seemed one fluid motion the boat, trailer, tractor and occupants would start moving through the water and up the sandy/rocky ramp to the parking lot where it had all begun hours before. We watched this over and over again and every time it worked perfectly. Being a boater ourselves we found this to be very interesting, the way everyone worked together. This was one time when slow and easy was not the order of the day! :-)
There were Eagles here also but not even close to the number that were in Ninilchik. We did however get some more great shots of them in their environment. We kept telling ourselves that we had enough pictures of Eagles but you never know, the last picture you took might just be the best one EVER!! There is one thing that I can't help repeating to myself and to Chip (I am sure Chip is tired of hearing it) is "the sound an Eagle makes just doesn't seem like it should be from such a majestic and symbolic bird"!

*** If you go back to the Blog post for Haines, Ak there is a video of an Eagle and you can hear it! See if you agree with me!