BALD EAGLES of Columbia Basin - Season I

Columbia River meanders towards the border between Canada and  the USA.

I owe this entry to my photographer friend Nel Vandergaag, for it was she, who introduced me to an amazing North American couple:
a breeding pair of  Bald Eagles, Haliaeetus leucocephalus.

That first meeting happened  two seasons ago on the steep banks of Columbia River.

Nel and our friend Flat Lucas (an elementary school project), looking at the eagle's nest down below.

The eagles mate for life and though they go their own way in the latter part of a year, they renew their bond the following Spring to carry on and raise their offspring.
Some seasons are successful some not. This, the season when we met, was a happy one.

Our first visit happened at the end of May and the eagles were already busy feeding their rapidly growing offspring. Thanks to their choice of venue and thanks to the far-reaching technology we were able to visit without disturbing the them, record a bit and learn a lot. June was their busiest time, with the eaglets  practicing their skills. Just like people, they were different in their behaviors and overall effort. One exercised non-stop, one liked to eat more than the others and practice less and the third one preferred to sleep and sleep and sleep.

We could not resist naming them: they became Flapper and Chomper and Sleeper. Not that they cared a bit.

It takes about three months for the eaglets to learn to fly and leave the nest.

Bald eagles raise sometimes one, usually two, sometimes three and rarely four offspring.
Three is a handful and it was a busy time for the parents to feed their trio Where and how did they find or catch the huge fish in this fast flowing river, we wondered. Or did they? Perhaps they robbed an osprey in mid-air or maybe they spotted a wounded or dying fish in the shallows - bald eagles will notice a glitter of a fish two kilometers away.
On some visits we noticed a yellow marmot or another larger rodent on the menu.
I also remembered seeing  the pair successfully ambush and catch a feeding duck. It was a long process because each time the eagles got close, their prey would dive under water. The hunt took the birds long way from the shore, and finally, exhausted and confused, the duck made a mistake of submerging a split second later than it should. One  eagle descended upon the duck, and, within seconds, squeezed the life out of it. Then something strange happened; the eagle either could not free itself or it was unable lift its prey from the water; in any case the eagle had to swim the entire half of the river back to the shore (a good hundred meters). Its  wings were flapping like oars and the air in the plumage helped the bird to stay afloat.
It was the eagle's lucky day  to make it to the safety of terra firma.

What, we wondered, would happen to the eaglets if one of the hard working pair died? 

We had no answer for that.

In June the eaglets became more and more mobile making use of the branches that also supported the nest.

Their housecleaning was exemplary, and judging by the lush vegetation below, environmentally super friendly.

That first year, we did not pay frequent visits to the nest and when we returned from a July trip to somewhere else, the nest was empty. All of them, Flapper and Chomper and even Sleeper, whom we so worried about, were gone. We could only hope that all the eaglets went on to survive. Such probability is very low, it is believed that only 1 in 10  will reach the adulthood, most dying in their first year.
 Starvation, disease and weather will take their toll; along with human activities and interference. It takes 4 - 5 years for a Bald Eagle to mature.

Columbia Lily, Lilium columbianum - also called Tiger Lily (this name is used for other lily species as well) 

Later on that year I was kayaking Kootenay River and heard a pitiful peep-peeep-peeep coming from somewhere above. I looked and looked and followed the sound and looked again. There he was! Or maybe it was a she. Calling Mom or Dad who were (purposefully) on the other side of the bay watching a bunch of young Canada Geese.. 

Bald Eagles mature at 4-5 years of age.
It would take couple more years for the young
to sport the white on its head and tail and yellow on its beak. 

Seemingly abandoned and for sure hungry, the young eagle was calling for help. I could see the white head of an adult far away on the other side of the bay. 

Intentionally ignored by the parents (at least for the time being) the young was being subjected to their "tough love". Go and hunt for yourself - we shall be only a backup from now on.

Come on, I told him. Such a big guy and you are talking like a chicken. Peep-peep-peep ... not much stronger than that.
How unfair of me!
It was a baby, only about four months old, size of an adult but a helpless young bird nevertheless.

The eagles have "weak" voice - at least to our human ears it sounds weak. But what if we simply cannot hear the sounds they communicate with. Who is the weak one then?

At the end of August I had another lucky glimpse into the Bald Eagle's life. We were camping in Burton, BC by Arrow Lake where the kokanee salmon were getting ready to spawn. The avian world was there too - ready to join the party.

Ballet school of California Gull, Larus californicus  (practicing Swan Lake production)
To see their ultimate goal please click the "Swan Lake" link above and then just play the Youtube video.

I was sneaking up to a flock of gulls when I noticed two Bald Eagles, one adult, one immature, hiding in the treetops. It seemed to me that they knew each other well and that there there was some kind of
communication happening between the two. I turned my attention to the gulls only to see them take off - in sheer panic and disarray.

I glanced back to the eagles hardly having time to notice that, like lightning, two shadows left the treetops. Eagles were hunting together - the old bird teaching the young!

They separated a gull from its flock and the adult eagle followed. 

The young one then abandoned the hunt and returned to its high perch while the adult kept on the pursuit.

I admired both of them for their speed was amazing.
Split of a second calculations and timings meant death or life.  How long could they go on for?
Almost upsetting the kayak I tried to follow their path.

I could see the gull losing strength but, somehow on its adrenaline rush, it managed to find the energy for a desperate maneuver - it flew straight up and immediately down again. The eagle missed and decided to abandon its hunt.
The gull, a hero from now on, dashed to the safety of the flock to share its story.

Bald Eagle settled back on its treetop branch, seagull feather still tucked in its talon. 

I could imagine it whistling in the soft eagle whisper: "OK, son, that was the wrong way to do it."

It was easy to believe that the adult eagle was teaching the young some special hunting technique.

Thimbleberry, Rubus parviflorus 

The first season ended. Once the eaglets leave the nest, the adults have no reason to stay. They roost elsewhere for the night and by Fall they separate for the season. It will be end of February, here in the Columbia Basin, before they start re-establishing their bond. Bald Eagles mate for life; and theirs is an impressive lifespan of  plus or minus 30 years.
Their nest will be re-used and built onto a year after year, after another year ... until it reaches gigantic proportions, or until the tree collapses underneath the nest's mega-weight.

Eagle's nest on Ponderosa Pine, Pinus ponderosa on Old Hedley Road near Princeton, BC.
By the following Spring the tree broke in half.