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I photographed this Eagle eating a fish that had washed up on the beach at Homer, Alaska.
My wife Mary and I were at Homer, Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula to photograph Sea Otters. While I was there I developed a real rapport with one particular Bald Eagle I called the 'Beach Master'.
The Homer Alaska 'Spit' is a narrow strip of sand without trees that is a couple of hundred yards wide and about four miles long. There are a great many Eagles in the area whose main activity during Salomon spawning season is feeding on dying salmon that wash ashore. One of the better spots for this activity is the long sandy beaches of Homer Spit so lots of Eagles work the area.
These Eagles work the beach and each have their own minimum distance tolerance they allow for people walking the beach. For some of these Eagles this tolerance seems to be a mile and for a few it's as close as a hundred yards. Since beach walking is one of the prime tourist activities on the 'Spit',as the day goes on the Eagles are soon chased off, all except one, the 'Beach Master'.
The 'Beach Master' owned the highest point on the 'Spit' next to the beach, an isolated man made sign. This Eagle was more tolerant of people than his competition and wouldn't let most beach goers scare him off his perch. I thought this was a very smart strategy on the part of the 'Beach Master' because he than had several miles of beach all to himself for Salomon recovery.
Every morning and evening for a week I photographed the 'Beach Master' getting a little closer each day. The results are the photos shown in the 'Bald Eagle' triple.
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This page was last updated: March 15, 2008