{"id":649,"date":"2010-10-07T18:55:27","date_gmt":"2010-10-08T00:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/featheredphotography.wordpress.com\/?p=649"},"modified":"2012-09-07T15:46:30","modified_gmt":"2012-09-07T21:46:30","slug":"bald-eagles-in-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/07\/bald-eagles-in-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"Bald Eagles in Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Every winter hundreds of Bald Eagles migrate south from Canada and Alaska and winter in Utah.\u00a0 They do so because of our relatively mild winters and they are able to find sufficient food here.\u00a0 Typically they begin arriving in November and leave in March when the ice begins to melt.\u00a0 They can be found in many areas of the state but a large percentage of them winter on the wetlands surrounding the Great Salt Lake where there are a number of bird refuges and other suitable areas\u00a0to accommodate them.<\/p>\n

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\"\"\u00a0Adult Bald Eagle in flight<\/em><\/p>\n

Each year I spend many hours at some of the Great Salt Lake wetlands photographing eagles.\u00a0 What attracts them to some of the refuges is fish –\u00a0lots of fish, \u00a0especially carp.\u00a0 Carp are a nuissance\u00a0for wildlife managers because they root in the mud of the shallow impoundments\u00a0which makes\u00a0the water cloudy and unable to transmit light to the bottom.\u00a0 This disrupts the healthy growth of desirable plant species needed by birds so some refuges “poison” the carp, usually in mid-winter, with rotenone\u00a0– a non-toxic chemical that forms a film on fish gills preventing oxygen transfer from the water to the blood which kills the carp.\u00a0 Then it’s feast time for the eagles.<\/p>\n

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Bald Eagles and gulls on the ice<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s common to see several hundred Bald Eagles from one spot.\u00a0 One refuge counted 408 eagles.\u00a0\u00a0 I’ve personally seen 150 – 200 birds on several occasions.<\/p>\n

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<\/em>Immature Bald Eagle with carp<\/em><\/p>\n

This is why they’re here – fish!\u00a0 Specifically, carp.\u00a0 Lots of carp are killed, many of them are very large, and the\u00a0freezing water\u00a0keeps the fish in relatively good condition for a long time.\u00a0 So, there’s plenty\u00a0of food for lots of eagles for many weeks.\u00a0\u00a0 As you can see, they often pick the\u00a0carp carcasses clean.<\/p>\n

A word of explanation here.\u00a0 Many folks believe that all Bald Eagles have the\u00a0well-known white\u00a0head and tail.\u00a0 That’s true only of the adults.\u00a0 Immature birds, up to about their fifth year when they become sexually mature, are dark brown with varying amounts of white in their plumage but they lack the all white head and tail.<\/p>\n

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Adult Bald Eagle with carp head<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Many years, most of the water is frozen and the only open water is at ponds with moving water which keeps it from freezing so the eagles often concentrate at such places.\u00a0 The photo above was taken at one of those ponds\u00a0and\u00a0you can see some of the ice to the right in the frame.<\/p>\n

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Adult threatening a sub-adult over food<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Bald Eagles seem to be pugnacious by nature and that tendency is aggravated when so many birds are in close proximity and competing for food.\u00a0 Squabbles, threats, intimidation displays and outright fights are relatively common though I’ve never seen an eagle injured in such encounters.<\/p>\n

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A fight waiting to happen<\/em><\/p>\n

While I was watching this immature bird attempting to steal the adults fish I was sure a fight was about to break out.\u00a0 It didn’t, but it was close.\u00a0 The juvenile ended up plucking up a small piece of fish from the water just under its beak and then beat a hasty retreat.\u00a0 No excitement this time.<\/p>\n

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Adult screaming a threat<\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes an eagle would approach another feeding bird and scream\u00a0threats at it which is what’s happening in the photo above.\u00a0 It usually didn’t work.\u00a0 The other eagle is just out of frame to the right.\u00a0 I love the “pantaloons” on these birds!<\/p>\n

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Juvenile complaining after it had been repelled by an adult<\/em><\/p>\n

This juvenile lost an altercation with an adult over a fish, retreated to this perch, and voiced its disapproval.\u00a0 Loudly!<\/p>\n

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Two adults and a juvenile Bald Eagle fighting over a fish<\/em><\/p>\n

When fights do break out it’s a challenge for the photographer.\u00a0 You’re set up to try to get close to them for good detail and then those huge wings go flailing in every unexpected direction.\u00a0 It’s very difficult to get all the action in the frame when that happens without cutting off or clipping something, wings especially.\u00a0 They’re very serious in this behavior as you can tell by the talon action.<\/p>\n

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Bald Eagles fighting over a duck<\/em><\/p>\n

This shot was taken in early December, before the fish kill and when food is at a premium so the eagles take what they can get.\u00a0 In this case, one of them had killed a duck (possibly a coot) and carried it out to an open meadow to enjoy its meal in peace.\u00a0 No such luck!\u00a0 Within minutes three other eagles and a raven came in to challenge it for the meal (one eagle and the raven are out of frame and the duck is under the eagle on the ground).<\/p>\n

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Protecting the fish<\/em><\/p>\n

Here is a behavior I hadn’t seen before.\u00a0 This bird had just landed on this nice, fresh carp that hadn’t been picked on at all by other birds.\u00a0 The eagle kept its wings spread out like this for quite a while.\u00a0 My interpretation of the behavior is that it was telling the other eagles close by, maybe a half\u00a0dozen of them, that “this is mine and I’m too big for you to take it away so don’t even try”.\u00a0\u00a0 My interpretation of what I saw –\u00a0maybe I’m right and maybe I’m not…<\/p>\n

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Approaching the feast, and a\u00a0confrontation<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Time after time\u00a0eagles would come in to land\u00a0where there were both fish and other eagles in possession of them.\u00a0 They always\u00a0seemed to have this very serious and determined look about them as if they were anticipating the confrontation\u00a0that was likely to unfold.\u00a0 Anthropomorphic of me, I’m sure…<\/p>\n

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Bald Eagle portrait<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

One eagle seemed particularly tolerant of my truck (I nearly always shoot from my vehicle).\u00a0 This bird would hunt live fish on its own and then return to the same pole perch to eat.\u00a0 I would park right next to the pole and wait for it to return, sometimes with a fish.\u00a0 It had no hesitation in landing on the pole which amazed me.\u00a0 Here, it had just finished eating and I decided to go for a closeup.<\/p>\n

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Even the fins taste good<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Ok, the end of the tale and of this birds meal.\u00a0 The eagles of the Great Salt Lake are a blast to photograph every winter and I hope this winter is a good one, for both me and the eagles.<\/p>\n

I want to mention that some photographers (with differing field ethics from mine) have been known to move dead carp to more “photogenic” spots.\u00a0 When you arrive you never know if it’s happened or not.\u00a0 Some of\u00a0the fish in a couple of these shots\u00a0may have been moved (baiting)\u00a0– I\u00a0doubt it but I just don’t know for sure.<\/p>\n

This post is a bit of an experiment.\u00a0 The image file sizes are larger than in the past\u00a0and there’s more of them so I’m a bit worried that some may find it irritatingly slow to load this blog.\u00a0 I’d appreciate knowing your experience with it, either way.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Ron<\/p>\n

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Every winter hundreds of Bald Eagles migrate south from Canada and Alaska and winter in Utah.\u00a0 They do so because of our relatively mild winters and they are able to find sufficient food here.\u00a0 Typically they begin arriving in November and leave in March when the ice begins to melt.\u00a0 They can be found in many areas of the state but a large percentage of them winter on the wetlands surrounding the Great Salt Lake where there are a number of bird refuges and other suitable areas\u00a0to accommodate them. \u00a0Adult Bald Eagle in flight Each year I spend many hours at some of the Great Salt Lake wetlands photographing eagles.\u00a0 What attracts them to some of the refuges is fish –\u00a0lots of fish, \u00a0especially carp.\u00a0 Carp are a nuissance\u00a0for wildlife managers because they root in the mud of the shallow impoundments\u00a0which makes\u00a0the water cloudy and unable to transmit light to the bottom.\u00a0 This disrupts the healthy growth of desirable plant species needed by birds so some refuges “poison” the carp, usually in mid-winter, with rotenone\u00a0– a non-toxic chemical that forms a film on fish gills preventing oxygen transfer from the water to the blood which kills the carp.\u00a0 Then it’s feast time for the eagles. Bald Eagles and gulls on the ice It’s common to see several hundred Bald Eagles from one spot.\u00a0 One refuge counted 408 eagles.\u00a0\u00a0 I’ve personally seen 150 – 200 birds on several occasions. Immature Bald Eagle with carp This is why they’re here – fish!\u00a0 Specifically, carp.\u00a0 Lots of carp…<\/p>\n

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