The eagle-watchers are here. Special guests – including two rehabilitated eagles from the Anchorage area to be released into the wild – will arrive next week during the 20th annual Alaska Bald Eagle Festival.
Starting Monday and running through Sunday, the festival includes presentations featuring live birds, transportation to the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, updates on bald eagle research projects, talks on local history and culture, photography workshops, plus two favorite guests from past festivals – Al Batt and Doris Mager.
Batt is a Minnesota-based ornithologist, writer and humorist whose lively talks have been a festival staple. Mager, a raptor advocate known as “The Eagle Lady of Florida,” will be keynote speaker at Saturday’s festival banquet.
Festival organizer Cheryl McRoberts of the American Bald Eagle Foundation said Mager’s talk last year was a hit. Mager, 89, has personally rehabilitated about 80 eagles and once spent a week in an unoccupied eagle’s nest to raise money for a Florida aviary.
“She was hilarious. Someone last year asked her how she went to the bathroom (in the nest). She said, ‘I just went to the edge of the nest, like eagles do, and let it go,’” McRoberts said.
Other presentations include master Tlingit carver Wayne Price speaking on a June voyage to Juneau in a traditional canoe, archaeologist Anastasia Wiley discussing the historic village site of Kaatxwaaltu, and Eagle foundation founder Dave Olerud guiding visitors through the building’s natural history displays.
Foundation raptor manager Chloe Goodson and raptor trainers Lei Minch and Samantha Wilson also will make presentations, as will Greg Merideth of the Yukon Wildlife Preserve and eagle migration researcher Rachel Wheat.
Organizer McRoberts said the two rehabilitated eagles are coming from Anchorage’s Bird Treatment and Learning Center, along with center director Guy Runco and veterinarian Dr. Karen Higgs. The release, a festival highlight, is set for 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15.
The local foundation recently took in Dot, which will join its resident eagles, Keene and Bella. Dot was injured in a collision with a vehicle in Ketchikan and her name is owed to state Department of Transportation workers who rescued her, but the foundation is looking for a better name. Residents and visitors are welcome to nominate a new name. A decision will be made Monday.
Visitors in town to see eagles this week included about 70 students from Juneau plus independent photographers like Mark Hayward, a tool factory owner from Spring Creek, Nev., who came for a week with wife Barb and two friends from Phoenix.
Hayward is a lifetime wildlife photographer who has captured images of large mammals in Katmai National Park, Grand Canyon, British Columbia and Yellowstone National Park. He said he hasn’t been disappointed, despite warmer-than-average weather that generally keeps birds dispersed.
Cold weather in November typically freezes much of the Chilkat River, leaving only small areas of water open for eagles to feed on salmon, giving rise to eye-popping concentrations of birds. “The eagles are spread out, but it’s alright. Some snow on the ground would help, but we may not get that by (the time we leave),” Hayward said.
Pam Randles, whose students make roadside counts of eagles as part of the Takshanuk Watershed Council’s Environmental Science Class, said the weather hasn’t been cooperative for ideal eagle viewing, but the birds are out there. Her students counted 609 of them from 12 locations Nov. 1, an amount that’s comparable to counts in previous years.
High river levels from recent rains is another reason viewers may not see historic crowds of birds at the eagle “council grounds” near 20 Mile Haines Highway, she said. Water has covered sandbars eagles use as a perch while fishing.
“Some of them have gone farther up the Tsirku, Klehini and Chilkat (rivers) to find places where the water isn’t so deep,” Randles said. “Eagles move around. Where they go depends on fish, weather, tides and water level.”
While the congregation of eagles here each November is called a “migration,” it’s not the same kind that occurs when herds or flocks head to other areas for winter, Randles said. “It’s not set by the seasons. It’s set by food sources. If there’s a good run of salmon in Glacier Bay, and not so good here, they’ll go to Glacier Bay. They go where the food is. They’re like teenage boys.”
Randles’ students will share their research, including comparisons of this year’s migration to past ones, starting 4 p.m. Nov. 12 at the festival. Festival events are held at the American Bald Eagle Foundation building. A full schedule can be found on page 6 of this newspaper. A schedule, registration and additional information can be found at http://www.baldeagles.org.