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Tis the season for bald eagles to flock to Lakes
Pend Oreille and Coeur d'Alene |
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December 23, 2015 |
by Carrie Hugo
Wildlife Biologist, Bureau of Land Management
Each year around Christmas time, large groups of
bald eagles congregate at sites on Lake Pend
Oreille and Lake Coeur d'Alene in the Idaho
panhandle, taking advantage of kokanee spawning
season. This annual nature event makes for great
bald eagle viewing, right here in North Idaho.
At Lake Pend Oreille, bald eagles sometimes
numbering in the hundreds can be seen in the
lake's Bayview and Granite Creek areas.
At Lake Coeur d'Alene, eagles are best seen at
Wolf Lodge Bay and Beauty Bay. The eagles are
looking for the annual kokanee spawn, and the
easy meal the spawning fish provide, at the same
time putting on a spectacular display along the
lake shore for the public’s viewing pleasure.
Bald eagle numbers in the Wolf Lodge Bay area
increase through early December with the peak
numbers occurring during the second and third
weeks of December. By the middle of January
however, most of the eagles have moved south to
their wintering grounds.
To take advantage of this unique viewing
opportunity, plan to visit the Bureau of Land
Management’s (BLM) long-established Eagle Watch
Week. From December 27 through December 31, the
BLM, Idaho Fish and Game, and local Audubon
members provide two interpretive sites for the
public to experience premiere eagle watching.
The BLM’s Mineral Ridge boat launch and the
Mineral Ridge Trailhead parking area welcome
eagle watchers of all ages. Spotting scopes,
mounted displays of bald and golden eagles,
informational brochures and signs, and “eagle
experts” are available to answer all kinds of
eagle questions. This year will be the 25th
anniversary of Eagle Watch Week!
If last year’s high count of 140 eagles is any
indication, there should be an abundance of
eagles to view. The record high count occurred
in 2011 when 273 adult and juvenile eagles were
counted in one day! The accuracy of eagle counts
is always a question, and is in fact one of the
most commonly asked questions during the Eagle
Watch event. Each week during “eagle season,” a
BLM biologist records the number of eagles along
a set route and set viewing points. Weather
plays a big factor in the counts as the adults,
with their bright white heads, blend in easily
with snow-covered tree branches. But the
immature or juvenile birds are all brown and
stand out more against the snowy white trees.
The opposite is true when there is no snow on
the trees. Bright white adults stand out while
immature birds are camouflaged amongst the
branches.
In the past, eagles began making their
appearance in Wolf Lodge Bay around the second
to third week of November. Their numbers rose
exponentially for the next three to four weeks,
and then began to fall as the kokanee spawn came
to a close in late December and early January.
However, the vastly improved kokanee spawn on
Lake Pend Oreille is changing the behavior of
bald eagles during their winter travels through
the Idaho Panhandle. Because the eagles are
coming from the interior portion of British
Columbia, they encounter Lake Pend Oreille
first. In the past, they just flew on by because
the number of spawning kokanee on Lake Pend
Oreille was just not worth stopping for.
In recent years, that has changed dramatically.
Efforts by Idaho Fish and Game to bring back the
struggling kokanee population in Lake Pend
Oreille have clearly been successful, and now
the eagles are beginning to stop and linger in
places like Bayview and Buttonhook Bay on the
massive lake’s south shore. This stopover has
created a noticeable shift in the arrival date
of the eagles to Lake Coeur d’Alene. Over the
past two seasons, the eagles have not begun
arriving to feast on the spawning kokanee in
Wolf Lodge Bay until early December.
But worry not! There will still be plenty of
eagles to view in Wolf Lodge Bay, and eagle
watching makes for a great holiday tradition!
With family in town and the kids out of school,
what could be more fun than viewing the regal
and stunning show the bald eagles put on during
their annual visit to Lake Coeur d’Alene?
Once the kokanee supply in Pend Oreille and Lake
Coeur d'Alene dwindles, the eagles will continue
to the Klamath Basin of Oregon/California, or
into Southern Idaho and Utah.
To get to the “Eagle Watch” sites, take Exit 22
on I-90 and follow the road south around Wolf
Lodge Bay. The boat launch site will be visible
from the road, and Mineral Ridge trailhead is
just a half-mile further down the road. For more
information about Eagle Watch, call
208-769-5004.
Follow the BLM’s Coeur d’Alene District webpage
for the latest eagle count numbers and
additional information on Eagle Watch Week:
blm.gov/g3ld |
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