NaturalVisions Blog

Bald Eagle – Homer, Alaska (click image to view larger)
This week’s image is from one of my 2 trips to Homer, AK to photograph the Bald Eagles hanging out on the Homer Spit waiting to be fed. This one is just about to land on one of the many pieces of driftwood that are scattered along the shoreline. I’ve always had mixed feelings about the eagle feeding that took place there that attracted hundreds of Bald Eagles (and photographers). On the one hand, we feed little birds in our yards, but these are a nasty species who are, shall we say, very argumentative and tended to fight over the fish. Truth be told, however, the worst spats I witnessed always took place at the Eagle Lady’s house, while the afternoon feedings by the photographers who were there were always more benign. Of course, a few years ago the town outlawed eagle feeding but, from what I hear, someone is again running a tour up there and they take a boat, I presume out to one of the islands in the bay, where they are tossing fish once again, out of the town’s jurisdiction.

One another somewhat related note, every once in a while someone forwards me an email showing images of eagles being fed, as the story goes, by some “fishermen from Vancouver” feeling sorry for the starving eagles. Except that every one of the photos in that email is from Homer, some taken from the Eagle Lady’s porch.