Living in Haines Alaska: December 2013

The Haines annual Bald Eagle Festival should be called, the Bald Eagle Fiesta. Up to 4000 eagles show up in November to feast on the late salmon run of Coho and Chum.

This year we took a canoe across the river and hiked up into a drainage that runs into the Chilkat River. It looked like more of the eagles were staying back away from the river.

After hiking and taking many pictures, I got this picture after I crossed the river coming back.

Daylight was beginning to shorten and the days were cool, but with a beautiful blue sky and no wind it was the perfect day for Southeast Alaska.

This brown bear highway is the first thing I seen when I stepped out of the canoe. Jake followed us across the river and was losing ground by the time we had landed on the bank. I quickly jumped out of the canoe and ran down the bank to help coax him out of the thick brush he swam into and back to me.

Jake hesitated before jumping back into the water, he was exhausted, but it was the only way to reach me. When he jumped out onto the riverbank he ran to me with a new zest for life.

As Jake reached me I realized I was standing in the center of a brown bear freeway, with rush hour being only a few hours ago. Many bears travel around at night, napping during the daylight hours, just inside the dense brush where they fished all night. I quickly made my way back out into the center of the rock bar, where I had more time to react should a bear walk out of the trees.

For Jake, the rest of the day was business. He is my best buddy and needs to be on bear patrol. Although he didn't have to deal with any bears ( Thank God ), he did however think he needed to protect me from a low flying eagle over 500 yards away. Running full speed he made it 100 yards before I yelled and he put the breaks on, when he turned around his head was lying low, as he knew he was in for a scolding. Did I mention he dislikes eagles immensely? Even when we are driving in the truck and one fly's too close he tries attacking through the window.

Other than Jake we are exercising our "2nd Amendment" rights. Here in Alaska many people carry weapons, safety is a priority here in big bear country, although there are many other species that can be extremely dangerous too. Moose are very unpredictable and need to be respected, but I don't think we had to worry to much about them, I know if I were a moose the last place I would be is on this river. You never know when a bear might not get enough salmon.

See what I mean? The drainage is long and wide and in most places I couldn't take a step without tramping on bear tracks. Of course by now most of you who know me well, know that I love being in the center of all of this.

A small brown bear fishing along the Chilkat River.

Scroll down to see more pictures of eagles. In a few of the pictures you will see eagles roosting with there wings hanging lower than the rest of their body, they are drying out there wings.

Many times they catch big salmon and must fight to get them to the river bank, even if it means floating down the river until a chance presents itself.

Just a few weeks ago I was in Sitka, AK and saw a duck fly by me with his wings doing over-time. Just two seconds behind the duck was an eagle.

As quickly as the duck touched down on the water the eagle grabbed it and kept on going. The eagle barely was able to stay in the air, he glided only a foot over the water for a couple hundred yards before safely reaching the bank.