February COAAST survey

Despite the dreary-sounding weather report, the sun rose to display a pink sky and continued shinning all day long in a near cloudless sky. It was time once again for our monthly beach survey out at Boy Scout Beach. We packed a small snack and hit the trail a little earlier than normal. The 45-minute drive out to the trailhead gave us glimpses of blue sky and snow covered mountains. We weren't sure what the trail condition would be with the recent 4 feet of snow and then two days of rain. The twice a day shoveling I did while Tim was in Florida has reduced itself into patches of green grass and a few mounds of soft snow. I keep wondering if we shouldn't just ignore the snow when it falls as it always seems to melt a few days (or a week in this case) later.

We had our snowshoes but ended up only needing our microspikes. If you veered off the trail then you fell through the snow up to your (my) knee but it was a pretty wide pathway so wasn't too bad. There was only a few really icy spots but it was reassuring to have the microspikes.

When we finally made it to the beach the view was incredible and we slowing shed outer clothing as we got out of the forest and into the open. It was like a spring day. There was warmth from the sun and no wind.

And then we found a deceased adult Bald Eagle near the high tide mark from the previous high tide (around midnight). The bird had all of its outer parts but was just a carcass of bones and features. We didn't need the identification book this time to know it was an eagle.

With wings measure 110 cm and a tarsus measuring 60 mm it was a very large bird, so probably a female although we can't confirm.

Bald guy with the bald eagle.



We taged the bird with our designated Orange band and since it was our second bird it got another orange tag double orange (in COASST speak).

We remarked that if we had to find a deceased bird, that the weather conditions we had were the best for it. It would have been miserable if it had been pouring down rain or snow while we were taking measurements or trying to make notes on the data sheet.

Eagle Activity

Last night we watched 15 or more eagles spread out across the channel in front of us having some kind of eagle reunion. Most of the juvys were in one spot and the adults would move over and pick at them. Maybe it is time for the juvys to leave their parents, I don't know. There was a young adult that was still showing a few times of imature coloring that was really causing trouble. Flying in and out, giving chase and being chased. We watched them for over an hour. They were so spread out that I couldn't get any decent pictures.

So tonight this guy is down with a spinning rod, fishing for dollys close to the mouth of Bear Creek. He lands one and an eagle flies right over to him and starts begging. He stands there for awhile and looks like he is calling someone. Finally another guy comes and takes some pictures. The fisherman decides to give the eagle the fish. I'm glad he didn't try to feed it from his hand. The eagle took the fish in its talons and hopped over a food and then chowed down.


The guy went back to fishing and now has an audience!

Someone needs to wash the windows!

Our neighbor was cutting fish so we had a large contingent of eagles hanging around the house waiting for scraps. I think we had about 10 of various ages flying around at one point. This one watched from the deck for quite awhile.

Releasing Eagles

The Juneau Raptor Center released two eagles last night and have plans to release four more next week. The lady with the black jacket has had 8 eagles tethered in her yard this last winter, flying around gaining strength from their injuries. Now that would have been quite a sight!



The juvy took one step out and then was away – it flew in a circle around the meadow. Sorry so blurry - it happened really fast!



Then it perched in a spruce tree where it was immediately ganged up on by a couple of crows. Better get used to it–those crows around here seem to have no fear.



The mature eagle took a little bit of coaxing to get out of the kennel but once it got going it never looked back.

Nice weekend in Sitka

We had a nice long weekend in Sitka. I love taking the ferry! The ride is about 4 1/2 hours - perfect for snacking, reading, and knitting; it isn't so long that you get really bored and its long enough so you can relax. We have our favorite seats that give us a view out the front and one side and we don't have anyone in front of us. Apparently some of the other folks traveling down with us like their seats because a lot of us found ourselves in the same spots on the return trip! Yes, we humans can be trained!

We had daylight most of the way over - the sun was just peaking through when the lines where dropped. On the way back it got dark about 4pm or so. They turn the lights off in the front cabin to make navigating easier so the last hour we sat quietly watching the GPS position on the map.

The weather was typical - some sun, some rain, a little wind, high 30s and night and mid-40s during the day. Fairly tropical!

On Saturday we attended and Arts and Crafts show at Centenial Hall. I forgot to take any pictures inside of the actual craft tables but did get this snapshot of Tim's folks puchasing a Christmas wreath for their front door. I thought there were more tables then in past years. A lot of photographs, greeting cards, beaded necklaces and earrings, a few preserves and food items, knitted and crocheted items.


One interesting idea that was pretty cool was lighted glass blocks wrapped with a bow to look like a present that you could set under your Christmas tree or place on your mantle. Beware! Some drilling may be required!

We took a smoked turkey from Jerry's Meats over on the ferry with us. We sure enjoyed it and we didn't have all the mess of cooking it! Its always nice to get out for a walk to work off some of the calories from eating all the time. Saw this cute little stump in one of the neighborhoods close by.

Close to Eagles

We woke up the other morning to find a visitor at the front window - too bad he (or she) wasn't sitting close to Cappy! We saw the adult sitting in the same spot later in the day but he took off before I could take a picture.


We have two sets of adults who hang out here in the winter and have each claimed a tree on either side of the house. I'm not sure they have nests there - its too hard to tell. But we normally see them in the late afternoon and evening.


This year each set has had two youngsters so in the evenings its not unusual to see 8 eagles flying around the house – 4 with white heads and 4 juvys. Especially since one of our neighbors is an avid (and successful) fisherman and often brings home salmon and throws the scrapes out on the beach and another one brings home totes of whole salmon and smokes them. He probably throws scrapes out too.

Birds of Prey

I know that there are some birds that are carnivores. They like to eat meat: rodents, other birds, fish...from the largest bird in Alaska, the Bald Eagle, to the smaller Northern Shrike...they hunt for dinner. So it always amazed me how passive the Bald Eagle can be. I can't tell you how many times there has been an eagle perched on the peak of the house getting dive- bombed by crows. The crows are relentless, flying at the eagle from all angles trying to get it to move on. I've seen them do it while perched in the spruce trees on the uphill side of the street and I've seen the crows on many occasion pestering eagles even while in flight. I often thought, "why are you letting that annoying Crow do that to you?"

Well it all added up and the eagle has snapped!

Tim and I were downtown last weekend and took a trip up the tram to Mt Roberts to check on the snow pack. There are great trails up there but the snow has been slow in melting and most of the trails aren't accessible. We did a short hike up there but the snow pack is still low enough that we couldn't make it very far. Didn't have our crampons or snow hooks with us and didn't feel like traversing through the snow at the steep angle it would require. But we enjoyed a short walk and a nice ride up and down.

We then decided that since we had found a place to park downtown we would walk over to Gold street and walk the Flume down Basin Road. Its a great little walk and fun to follow the rushing water in Gold Creek. So (back to the eagle story) as we were walking through town towards the Basin, we witnessed a mature Eagle carrying a crow in his talons. I was shocked. I didn't have time to pull out my camera, dang it. As we walked through the crowd the story started to unfold. Apparently the crow had been harassing the eagle (see - what did I tell you) and the eagle came back and snatched the crow off the roof of the library and carried the black bird away. HA! take that - annoying crow bird.

So this reminds me of another bird encounter I experienced recently. While in Seattle at the University of Washington campus attending an Ocean Science conference, I was taking a short walk after lunch through the campus to take advantage of the great weather and the beautiful campus. Close to the Ocean Science building I heard the familiar noise of the crow. I also saw a bunch of Robins. Unfortunately for the Robin, the Crow decide to steal a Robin chick. It must have fallen out of a nest (or maybe dragged out by the Crow) and became fair game. Oh, the other Robins tried to get that chick back but were unsuccessful. I was almost sick to my stomach at the fate of the chick and had great sympathy for the Robins. It was a disturbing experience for me.

Our friend Ron, while in Fairbanks a couple years ago, invited us to Creamer's while he flew his Peregrine Falcon and his Gyrfalcon. He warned us that they might happen to take a duck down while in flight. They were both beautiful in flight - quick in flight - flying in spirals to hit the drafts and then soaring over the fields. The gyrfalcon was first and he did track some geese but clearly they were too big of a target for him. The geese huddled together on the ground, fighting the temptation to fly which might have been fatal.

You could almost see the smile on the Peregrine's face as she took off for the blue and open sky. She was very fast and flew back and forth across the fields, then went higher and higher until she dove back to earth. She spotted a pair of mallards on a pond and flew over them a couple of times. They got nervous and took off from the pond. Bad mistake for them. The Peregrine charged in and took the male down. It happened so quick it was almost like the Peregrine crashed into the duck head first but I'm sure she must have had her talons out for a fatal wound. They came down together and Ron quickly made sure the duck was dead. That Peregrine was so proud. At first I was shocked. I love ducks and other waterfowl. But the natural instincts of the Peregrine were also so beautiful to watch. It happens all the time in the wild.

The Peregrine is no longer with us - she got taken by an Eagle last fall.