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Archive 2009 · Eagles in Alaska ???

DixPix
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p.1 #1 · Eagles in Alaska ???

My wife and I are planning a trip to Alaska next summer -- probably late July or early August. We don't know yet how we are gonna travel. There are some railroad tours that look inviting but we may just fly up somewhere and rent a car.

My burning question is this: where (and when) do I go to get good eagle photos. I have a 100-400 zoom and a 300mm f2.8 as well as a couple extenders.

Please, any advice would be greatly appreciatedl. This will be the only time we get to do this.

Thanks,

Dick

Oct 26, 2009 at 12:55 AM

archer
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p.1 #2 · Eagles in Alaska ???

Hi Dick-
There are eagles all along the coastlines throughout the year up here, as well as eagles that frequent the rivers especially when the salmon are running. Eagles typically build up in numbers in late October/early November in Haines for the Bald Eagle Festival during a late salmon run. Homer has been a hotspot from December through early April as well, mainly because they allowed feeding by anyone until 2005, then restricted the feeding to only Jean Keene (The Eagle Lady) up until her death this past January. It's difficult to tell how the eagle population will fair this coming winter - now that there will be no feeding allowed. Another location that I've had luck for eagles (at a longer distance) is Cordova, in June. I'll be leading a tour/workshop there (combined with 3 days in Seward) this coming June (in case you are interested) for eagles/otters/rainforest/glaciers/landscapes/whales/etc. Here's a link.
Alaska's Southern Coast: June 11-18, 2010

In July/August you can find a few eagles in downtown Seward and along the coast in Resurrection Bay. I guided a "one-on-one" week long tour for a client this past August - we hiked out to Tonsina Point (not a "difficult" hike in my estimation, but with camera gear and long lenses...) and saw several bald eagles of various maturities. Tonsina Creek is a beautiful location and we practically had it to ourselves. The stream is very clear and slightly turquoise colored (from the Harding Icefield & glaciers above). It was packed with salmon and there were numerous bear signs nearby, although we didn't see any first hand. I'd recommend hiking with bear spray and be "bear aware". Usually, where there are large populations of eagles, there are several bear in the area - they are feeding on the same thing. Salmon. If you don't want to hike out to Tonsina Point/Creek you could also hire a water taxi to drop you off and then pick you up again at a designated time.
At that time of year (early August), it's still light a long time. You could spend several (maybe 14) hours out there and not have to worry about hiking back in the dark.
Your lens selection sounds good. I'd take both lenses and converters, and of course a good tripod.
Please let me know if you have any questions, I'm happy to help out.

Nov 22, 2009 at 08:20 PM


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