Haines, Alaska - More Bald Eagles

So we are now in our 4th straight day of heavy wind and rain!!  Everything here is wonderful except the weather, although the locals do say that they can't remember the last time it was this rainy... 

We took a drive today up to the Bald Eagle Preserve (click on the name for more information) to check out the weather conditions (38 degrees & rainy) and the eagles (too many to count).  As we made the drive, I attempted to count the number of eagles that we saw from the road...  Well, after less than 1/4 of a mile, I could not keep up and lost count at over 40 (just in the trees).  We stopped at several of the pullouts to see the eagles in the river flats and in the trees, we estimate that we saw between 500 - 800 eagles this morning.  We are so lucky to be able to witness this, I don't think we'll ever have this type of viewing again...

We also stopped by the Bald Eagle Foundation to drop off some photos we did for them from our photo shoot of the owls yesterday (I'll post some photos of these adorable little guys in a couple of days, especially for you Annie).  We also had the opportunity to be within 5 feet of the new bald eagle, Scotty, that is housed at in the Foundation's mews.  He was received by them about 3 weeks ago and they are in the process of training the injured bird to sit on the glove for educational purposes.  We were able to sit quietly in a corner to watch them train the eagle with his food (rabbit, fish & rat).  It was amazing to be that close to such a large (over 11 pounds) magnificent creature.  Here is a photo Matt took yesterday of the training.

Dan is training Scotty (the eagle) with food incentives to step onto his gloved arm.

Below are some more of Matt's great photos from the past weeks, ENJOY!!!

Take Off. An adult bald eagle takes and heads down river in search of salmon on the Chilkoot river in Haines, Alaska.

Fluffed. As the wind blew on a cold Alaskan day, this eagle fluffed up his feathers on his perch overlooking the Chilkat river.

The Cry. Overlooking the Chilkat river, this bald eagle vocalizes his dominance to the other eagles in the area.

White Tips. After seeing this eagle for three weeks out of photo range, I was fortunate enough to get close enough to get some shots of this beautiful bird. The eagle has a rare pigmentation causing its wingtips to go white, as well as its talons. It is one of the most beautiful birds in flight as the wing tips really accent its motion.  (Same eagle in the next 4 photos)