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The Alaskan Eagles page contains 48 portraits and flight shots of juvenile and adult Bald Eagles from Silver Salmon Creek on the Alaska Peninsula, near Cook Inlet in Lake Clark National Park.
These images were recently reprocessed for the Raptors: Eagles Wildlife Study. More Bald Eagle images are displayed in the other three pages in that section.
More than 200 images are available in the Eagles Gallery on Photoshelter.
Click an image to open a larger version. Use your back button to return to this page.
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Images in this section are in several different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Gallery Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.
Images can be found in the following Galleries (Direct Links):
Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear Brown Bear Fishing Golden Female and Cubs Assorted Brown Bear Brown Bear Composites
Eagles Puffins Assorted Shorebirds
Avocets, Stilts and Yellowlegs Rodents
Alaskan Scenic
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Air Madura DeHavilland Beaver X4221
The only way into the area is by boat or plane, so we piled our gear and ourselves into this Air Madura DeHavilland Beaver DHC-2 STOL bush plane for the flight, which culminated in a hair-raising ‘short-field’ landing in a tiny lily pond.
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Silver Salmon Creek Lodge HS2826
Silver Salmon Creek Lodge was base of operations while we were visiting in the Lake Clark National Park area. It operates from a home, offering meals, guide services, computers, and rooms for 12 people.
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Silver Salmon Creek is in Lake Clark National Park, at the bottom of the Alaska Peninsula in southwestern Alaska, on the west side of Cook Inlet between Chinitna Bay and Tuxedni Bay. Located 100 miles south of Anchorage, Alaska, it is accessible only by boat or float plane.
Bald Eagle Juvenile X2788
A fourth year juvenile Bald Eagle perched among a dense group of cones near the top of a conifer alongside Silver Salmon Creek in Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
Adult Bald Eagles are dark brown, with a white head and tail. The beak, feet and eyes are yellow, and the unfeathered feet have short toes with long, needle-sharp talons. The rear talon is used to pierce vital organs of prey as it is held immobile by the front talons. The juvenile Bald Eagle has a dark head in its first year and mottled brown and white plumage. In the second year the crown and throat lighten to a golden brown or gray, somewhat resembling the adult Golden Eagle. The head and throat lighten further in the third year, and by its fourth year the juvenile head is nearly white with a few brown patches. It is distinguishable from the adult by its mottled body feathers. Juvenile Bald Eagles reach sexual maturity by the end of the fourth year or early in the fifth year.
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Bald Eagle Juvenile X3050c
A detail crop of a frontal portrait of a fourth year juvenile atop a conifer.
Juvenile Bald Eagles look similar to adult Golden Eagles, except Golden Eagles have a smaller head with a larger beak. Juvenile Bald Eagles have mottled plumage. The plumage of the Golden Eagle is unmottled and redder brown, and Golden Eagles have a dark gray, black tipped beak versus the Bald Eagle’s yellow beak. Juvenile Bald Eagles have a darker head and neck and a much smaller dark gray beak than Golden Eagles.
Golden Eagles are feathered down to their toes, while Bald Eagles have featherless lower legs and feet. When in flight, a juvenile Bald Eagle can be differentiated from juvenile Golden Eagles by the tail color. The tail of a juvenile Golden Eagle is white behind the feet, with a wide, dark terminal band at the end. Images of 2nd year and 3rd year juvenile Bald Eagles in flight are on the Bosque del Apache page.
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Bald Eagle Juvenile X3051c
A fourth year juvenile Bald Eagle atop a conifer near Silver Salmon Creek, Alaska.
Portraits of 1st, 2nd and 3rd year juvenile Bald Eagles are on the Raptors, Eagles: Bosque del Apache page.
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Bald Eagle Juvenile X3055 M
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Bald Eagle Juvenile X3057 M
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The image above left shows the entire scene as available in the images for purchase. Above right is a resized detail crop of this 4th year juvenile taken at Silver Salmon Creek.
These images were taken in the early evening. The light varied as the sun passed behind clouds.
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Bald Eagle Juvenile X3058c
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Bald Eagle Juvenile X3061c
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This juvenile performed the typical feather ruffle (above left) prior to lightening the load in the characteristic manner which signals that the Eagle is getting ready to fly from its perch.
Bald Eagle Juvenile X3063 M
The juvenile showed its consideration by pausing for a moment to allow me to get a last portrait.
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Bald Eagle Juvenile Takeoff Position X3065 M
Moments later, it assumed the characteristic takeoff position...
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Bald Eagle Juvenile Takeoff X3066 M
... and sprung into the sky on its way to hunt for fish at Silver Salmon Creek, Alaska.
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Images in this section are in several different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Gallery Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.
Images can be found in the following Galleries (Direct Links):
Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear Brown Bear Fishing Golden Female and Cubs Assorted Brown Bear Brown Bear Composites
Eagles Puffins Assorted Shorebirds
Avocets, Stilts and Yellowlegs Rodents
Alaskan Scenic
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Bald Eagle X2772
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Bald Eagle X2778
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An adult Bald Eagle scans the area from a dead treetop near Silver Salmon Creek in Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
Bald Eagle X2779 M
Bald Eagles typically choose a perch near water which has unrestricted visibility allowing them to scan the entire area for prey. They often select the top of a tree, but when perched below the treetop they prefer trees with open structures that allow them to land and take off without restricting their wings.
All of the landscape (horizontal) large version images linked from the thumbnails are 1500 pixels wide. Portrait (vertical) images are 1200 pixels tall (1290 pixels with title bar). Images designated with an “M” in the shot number are 5:4 aspect ratio, 1500 x 1290 with a title bar, or 1500 x 1200 without the title bar. A few portrait images like the one above are designated “M” and are 1500 pixels tall (plus the title bar).
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Bald Eagle X2782
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Bald Eagle X2781
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A Bald Eagle perched atop a tree in mid-afternoon near Silver Salmon Creek, Alaska.
Silver Salmon Creek feeds into the coastal flats at Cook Inlet from Lake Clark National Park, a four million acre wildlife preserve on the Alaska Peninsula 100 miles southwest of Anchorage. 1200 pound Alaskan Coastal Brown Bears feed on the sedge grasses and the spawning Salmon which give the creek its name. The Salmon runs also attract a number of Bald Eagles to the area.
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Bald Eagle Takeoff Position X2783
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Bald Eagle Takeoff X2784
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A Bald Eagle assumes the US Postal Service position and takes off into the brilliant blue Alaskan sky at mid-afternoon near Silver Salmon Creek.
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Bald Eagle at Sunrise X3629
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Bald Eagle at Sunrise X3640
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This is very likely the same Bald Eagle, taken three days later at sunrise while perched in the same tree.
Bald Eagle X3758 M
A Bald Eagle perched at the top of a conifer near Silver Salmon Creek, Alaska.
Bald Eagles are Sea Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus, meaning salt, eagle, white, head). The word Bald derives from piebald, originally from the Old English bala (white patch or blaze) and the Middle English ball with the suffix ed used to form an adjective from a noun. Thus the word Bald in this context means white-headed. The National Bird of the USA, it appears on the Great Seal.
Benjamin Franklin wrote to his daughter a year after the Great Seal was adopted in 1782, expressing his disappointment that the Eagle had been chosen as the National Symbol, stating that Bald Eagles did not make their living honestly. He considered them too lazy to fish for themselves, often stealing fish from other birds. He also considered the Eagle a coward, as it could be chased off by the tiny King Bird (a play on words: Americans had just chased the “King birds” (British) from the country in the Revolutionary War). He considered the Wild Turkey a better choice for National Symbol.
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Bald Eagle X3757
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Bald Eagle X3759
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I took several portraits of this Eagle with different head positions before he took off to hunt.
Bald Eagle X3761 M
A Bald Eagle in a pensive mood atop a conifer near Silver Salmon Creek, Alaska.
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Bald Eagle X3779
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Bald Eagle X3765
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Images in this section are in several different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Gallery Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.
Images can be found in the following Galleries (Direct Links):
Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear Brown Bear Fishing Golden Female and Cubs Assorted Brown Bear Brown Bear Composites
Eagles Puffins Assorted Shorebirds
Avocets, Stilts and Yellowlegs Rodents
Alaskan Scenic
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Bald Eagle X3769c
A detail crop of an adult Bald Eagle perched atop a conifer near Silver Salmon Creek in Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
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Bald Eagle Takeoff Position X3782
The Bald Eagle assumes the takeoff position adopted as a logo by the US Postal Service.
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Bald Eagle Takeoff X3783 M
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Bald Eagle Takeoff X3784 M
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As I had composed this Eagle for portraits and this takeoff was not predictable (usually, before takeoff raptors will lighten the load by pooping, signaling the intention to fly, but this time there was no warning), framing was tight and the wings were cut off, but the images show exceptional facial detail during takeoff.
Bald Eagle Takeoff X3784c
A “head and shoulders” detail crop of the takeoff from image X3784.
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Bald Eagle Takeoff X3785
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Bald Eagle Takeoff X3786
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Bald Eagle Takeoff X3786c
A detail crop from the head back to the upper tail, taken from image X3786.
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Bald Eagle Takeoff X3787
A Bald Eagle shot just as it leaves its perch at the top of a conifer near Silver Salmon Creek, Alaska.
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Bald Eagle Takeoff X3791c
A “head and shoulders” detail crop of the takeoff from image X3791.
These detail crops taken directly from the master images illustrate the image quality which can be expected when displayed at full-size.
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Images in this section are in several different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Gallery Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.
Images can be found in the following Galleries (Direct Links):
Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear Brown Bear Fishing Golden Female and Cubs Assorted Brown Bear Brown Bear Composites
Eagles Puffins Assorted Shorebirds
Avocets, Stilts and Yellowlegs Rodents
Alaskan Scenic
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Bald Eagle HS2921
Most often, Bald Eagles perch high up in trees to allow them an unrestricted view of the area. This was an unusual situation in which Eagle had perched at eye level on a stump at the edge of a field of sedge grass on the beach where Silver Salmon Creek meets Cook Inlet, Alaska.
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Bald Eagle X3690
A Bald Eagle on a stump at the beach, taken the day before.
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Bald Eagle X3891
A detail crop of a close portrait taken at eye level.
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Bald Eagle X3888 M
One of a series of portraits of a Bald Eagle taken at eye level at the mouth of Silver Salmon Creek, Alaska.
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Bald Eagle X3890
The two subspecies of Bald Eagle are the only species of Eagle that live solely in North America, and thus they are commonly referred to as the American Eagle. The two subspecies are divided by geographical location, from 38 degrees N. latitude near San Francisco on the West Coast and a bit further south on the East Coast at Cape Hatteras. Nearly half of the estimated 70,000 Bald Eagles live in Alaska. This is the Washington Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus washingtoniensis), the larger of the two subspecies. They winter further south, in Canada and the Northern US. The nominate subspecies is smaller (Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus) and lives in the Southern US, Baja California and Northern Mexico. They are normally permanent residents.
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Bald Eagle X3895 M
A close portrait of a Bald Eagle taken at eye level on a stump at the edge of a field of sedge grass, where Silver Salmon Creek meets the beach at Cook Inlet, Alaska.
While there are a few places where Bald Eagles are used to people and can often be seen up close at eye level, in the wild they are more often seen perched high in trees. One place Eagles are seen close is Homer, Alaska, where for 30 years Jean Keene, known as the “Eagle Lady”, fed up to 300 wild Bald Eagles daily on the Homer Spit.
Jean worked at a fish processing plant and brought home surplus fish scraps and freezer-burned fish for her Eagles. It began in the late 1970s when she saw two on the beach next to her motor home and offered them food. They returned each day, and later brought some friends. The word spread throughout the “Eagle Network”, and by the time 10 years had passed, over 200 eagles were coming to the Spit each day to see Jean and get her fish and the occasional road-killed Moose bits which Jean gathered. From December until April, Jean fed her Eagles.
She gained national attention through magazine, newspaper and other media reports and was the subject of a 2004 book “The Eagle Lady”. She gained many supporters but her activities also caused controversy among some local residents and environmentalists who were worried about the number of Eagles becoming too familiar with people. After her death in 2009, the city of Homer passed an ordinance prohibiting the feeding of Eagles (delayed until Spring 2009 to avoid starving Eagles accustomed to meeting Jean at the Homer Spit).
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Bald Eagle Takeoff Position X3897 M
A frontal portrait of the famous Bald Eagle takeoff position used by the US Postal Service.
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Bald Eagle Takeoff X3898 M
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Bald Eagle in Flight X3899
A Bald Eagle takes off from its perch and flies at eye level down the beach at the mouth of Silver Salmon Creek, Alaska.
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Bald Eagle in Flight X3900
A Bald Eagle flies at eye level between the sedge grass and the beach at the mouth of Silver Salmon Creek in Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
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Bald Eagle in Flight X3901
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Bald Eagle in Flight X3903
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The flight speed of a Bald Eagle is between 36 and 44 miles per hour, and they dive at 75-100 mph. This Eagle gained speed quite rapidly, and it was exceptionally difficult to maintain a focus lock on the bird.
Bald Eagle in Flight X3904
In my experience, Bald Eagles in flight are most often seen at great distance or at least 100 feet overhead. I am sure you can imagine how exciting it was to photograph a Bald Eagle in flight up close and at eye level.
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Images in this section are in several different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Gallery Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.
Images can be found in the following Galleries (Direct Links):
Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear Brown Bear Fishing Golden Female and Cubs Assorted Brown Bear Brown Bear Composites
Eagles Puffins Assorted Shorebirds
Avocets, Stilts and Yellowlegs Rodents
Alaskan Scenic
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Many other images of Eagles are in the Eagles section of the Raptors Wildlife Study. Click the Display Composite above to visit the Index page with an Overview of the section.
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The Raptors Study contains more than 600 images of Eagles, Hawks, Falcons, Harriers, Owls, White-Tailed Kites and Osprey from Wildlife Refuges and other locations across the United States, separated into six sections and 14 pages.
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Click the Display Composite above to visit the Puffins, other Wildlife and Alaskan Scenery section.
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Click the Display Composite above to visit the Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear section.
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