The Eagles Have Landed

Yesterday, I traveled up north a bit to Washington's Skagit Valley to photograph the eagles. Every winter around this time of year, hundreds of bald eagles descend upon the tiny Skagit Valley to feast on the spawning salmon. I'd always wanted to go see the eagles when I lived in Seattle the first time, but never did. This time around, I wasn't gonna waste the opportunity.

So, I packed up my gear and headed off into the rain. That rain turned to snow as I climbed up the valley towards Rockport, WA. Much of the river between Rockport and Marblemount, WA is protected eagle area and apparently a prime salmon spawning area, which makes ripe feeding grounds for the eagles. This time of year is at the end of the eagle season as most of the eagles are transiting through the area from Alaska and Canada. Plus, this year was an off year with low eagle counts. They had the current count yesterday at 162 eagles while last years count was upwards 600+ eagles. I was told it all depends on the salmon and how well the salmon runs are year to year. On a peak year, there can be over 800 eagles in this five mile stretch of river. That's the largest concentration of eagles anywhere in the USA. Amazing!

Once at Rockport, I walked over to the bridge over the Skagit River and pretty quickly saw several eagles perched in the trees and flying overhead. Although it was snowing on and off and pretty cold, I was able to see many eagles and photograph them. They certainly are beautiful and majestic creatures and it is good to see them thriving so well.

Unfortunately for the photography side of things, the weather (rain & snow), made photographing difficult and the eagles we did see were somewhat far away. Despite that, I was able to get a few good photos and I learned a few things that will help if I get to come back next year.