Beth's Patch ~ American Bald Eagle Fly Through

 

Cape Island ~ Bald Eagle

Everglades City, FL ~ Cruise out into the Everglades

10,000 Islands

Osprey in nest

American Bald Eagle

Bottlenose Dolphin ~ photo credit Deb Philip

Bottlenose Dolphin ~ photo credit Deb Philip

Brown Pelican

Anchor River, Alaska

The first part of today's adventure was to drive out to Anchor River.  This river empties into the ocean at the most westerly point on the continental US highway system.  It was very interesting to go down to the beach and see how the boats are moved into and out of the inlet.  The boats are pulled in and out by heavy equipment as seen in the pictures below.  The tractors drive out fairly far into the water and turn around and let the boat drive into the trailer where it is secured and pulled back onto the beach.

Our thinking in picking to go to Anchor River Recreation area was that we were hoping that there would be lots of Bald Eagles on the beach like there had been on the beach in Deep Creek yesterday.  There were 3-4 BE along with the usual assortment of gulls but not near of many as I though there would be.  The area is also supposed to have shorebirds there but currently they are nesting in the arctic.  I saw some birds like by perhaps ducks or loons but didn't get a close enough look to make an ID.

Seward to Deep Creek, Alaska

This morning we had plans to hike out to the Exit Glacier as from the advertisements it sounds like you could actually walk out to the glacier itself.  This is really not true.  The walk itself is moderately strenuous as it's an uphill climb.  I heard many birds along the path but only saw a few of them, Yellow Warbler, Pacific Wren (life bird), Green-violet Swallow, Gray Jay (life bird) and Black-billed Magpie (life bird).  I must admit I was very disappointed by this glacier as it is fairly small compared to other glaciers we have seen plus it is very dirty and covered with black silt.  You also can't get anywhere near it.  I would not recommend this hike in spite of seeing 4 life birds.  We also stopped by the Bear Creek Weir hopping to see the American Dipper but we dipped on the AD.

Next to were off to Homer. We made no stops going across the Kenai Peninsula on the Sterling Highway.  Once headed down towards Homer we were riding parallel to water but it was foggy so the views to the far side of Cook Inlet of 3 volcanoes: Mount Illianmna, Mount Redoubt and Mount Spur were not as good as we would have liked.  At Deep Creek we decided to drive down to the beach where we found Bald Eagles feeding on fish left on the beach along with several species of gulls.  It was great to see the BE so close and they paid no attention to us concentrating on the fish.  Sadly there were several ATV's on the beach that were chasing the eagles away.  At one point when they all took off the gulls ate a massive amount of the fish the BE had been working at slowly.  we spend quite a while observing the birds but then need to move on so we could get into Homer and find our lodgings.

Conwingo Dam - Take 2

After a great day at my grandson's wedding yesterday I was off to Conwingo Dam ready for some more action.  I was not disappointed with it.  There were times when an American Bald Eagle swoped down grabbed a fish and then had up to with more eagles chasing the first eagle trying to take it from him.  It was awesome to watch the cases.

Also down on the river there were good numbers of Double-crested Cormorants fishing.  More than once I saw another cormorant come into swipe the fish from the one who caught it.  Sometimes the swiper was successful but more often he wasn't though there were plenty of fish for everyone to catch.

American Bald Eagles - Conowingo Dam, MD

Last year when birding one day another birder and I got into conversation about good places to see different types of birds.  He suggested going to Conowingo Dam in MD during the from mid Octiber through mid-March to see both American Bald Eagles and a variety of species of gulls.  He had been there and told me that while the winter months are usually the best there's lots to see at other times. 

The dam is a hydroelectric plant that pulls water from the upper river when electric demand is high.  It pulls fish with the water that the birds then feed upon.  Wintertime is also said to bring in a number of duck species.  To be it sounded like a delightful spot to take some photographs of the eagles.  Since my grandson is getting married this weekend in Lebanon, PA and I planned to stay in Lancaster this was the perfeect time to check out the dam.

This time of year driving is a visual pleasure due to the changing of the foliage.  I had a little trouble finding the dam and the area where you can view the birds along the Susquehanna River.  It was great with a good number of eagles over on the island across from the viewing area.  There was also one eafeeding on a fish up in the tree right by where we parked. I spent about 2 hrs there before leaving for my friend's house in Lancaster.

Thoughtful Thursday

American Bald Eagle

Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitute. 

Arthur Schopnehauer