Skagit River Bald Eagle Migration

coscorrosa

From late November to late February bald eagles as far away as Alaska migrate to the upper Skagit River (in northern Washington State near the North Cascades) to feast on the dead salmon that have finished spawning. Right now is peak viewing time.

I went up yesterday for some photos, I haven't shot any wildlife for months, so I was a little rusty. It was snowing intermittently which made things interesting (in a good way).

I also took a 12-mile float tour on the river where I saw over 100 bald eagles, many of them juveniles, it's very cool to see that many eagles in one spot.

Anyway here are some of my favorite photos (all shot with a 100-400 and a 1.4x extender).

The full gallery is at http://photos.coscorrosa.com/gallery/7013155_z8uDN

#1:



#2:



#3:



#4 (full extension):



#5:



#6:



#7:



#8:



#9:



#10:



#11:



#12:

KurtPreston

#10 and #12 are serious keepers, and I really like #4 as well ... great job! I don't have any salmon runs down here in Maryland Closest thing we got is the yellow perch runs that the eagles like to feed off of in the Potomac tributaries.

NorthernFocus

Looks like you had some fun, Ron. I like the shots of the one flying low over the snow and #11.

When we live down there we floated the river one time too. Rained like hell that day :cry

Don't get too cozy with those guys. I need them back up here by May

coscorrosa

KurtPreston wrote:

#10 and #12 are serious keepers, and I really like #4 as well ... great job! I don't have any salmon runs down here in Maryland Closest thing we got is the yellow perch runs that the eagles like to feed off of in the Potomac tributaries.

Thanks Kurt, believe it or not, this is the first time I've been there to see the migration (let alone photograph), I meant to go the last two years but never did (stupid!). Hopefully I'll be able to make it up one more time this year.

coscorrosa

articblooms wrote:

Looks like you had some fun, Ron. I like the shots of the one flying low over the snow and #11.

When we live down there we floated the river one time too. Rained like hell that day :cry

Don't get too cozy with those guys. I need them back up here by May

It snowed off and on Saturday, but no rain and little wind. My hiking boots were soaked wet in 25 degree water for 4 hours and I could barely feel my feet afterward (next time I'll just use the rubber boots, stupid me). After about an hour, I got used to it, but once I got off the float, I was gimping around because my feet hurt so bad. 24 hours later, the toes on my right foot are still tingling. But it was worth it

Oh I forgot the fun part, my camera stopped working right before I got on the float, so none of these photos were from the float! Stupid camera doesn't like to work in 30 degree temperatures (even with a warm battery, doesn't matter). It's done this before to me too, now it's going to go to the shop and get fixed. Stupid thing. It was still enjoyable to just view the eagles without taking photos though.

I keep meaning to go up to Alaska, and maybe this will be the year. I would love to see some grizzlies, more eagles, and some of those ridiculous landscapes you have up there.

Abiciriderback

Beautiful series Ron the detail is just Fantastic. Were you using the new 5d MarkII. I love the Skagit Valley something different during each season from Tulips to Eagles to Trumpet Swans awesome area.

Ray Still

bfjr

Can't beat them Eagles

coscorrosa

Abiciriderback wrote:

Beautiful series Ron the detail is just Fantastic. Were you using the new 5d MarkII. I love the Skagit Valley something different during each season from Tulips to Eagles to Trumpet Swans awesome area.

Ray Still

Nope, this was the 1D MIII (1.3x crop factor, better AF, tendency to stop working in 30 degree temps - at least my version). You're right, Skagit is great for landscapes and wildlife.

Mark Edell

Very nice shots indded. I have been wantin to get up there for a few years now.

dlplumer

You sure do get around Ron. These are wonderful. Great work as always.

kdog

Wow, wow, wow, wow!!! :wow

Color me green with envy. These are fantastic. Congrats on some mighty fine shooting there. I really need to get up there some day and see the eagles.

Ron, were the bulk of these from the float trip, or did you shoot them from land?

BTW, it's good to see what the MKIII/100-400 combo can do with the TC1.4. That combo won't focus reliably on a crop body camera, regardless of what anybody says.

Cheers,
-joel

Harryb

Excellent set Ron.

coscorrosa

dlplumer wrote:

You sure do get around Ron. These are wonderful. Great work as always.

Not nearly as frequently as I would like! Thanks for the comments, the eagles pretty much shoot themselves (well, not literally, thankfully).

coscorrosa

kdog wrote:

Wow, wow, wow, wow!!! :wow

Color me green with envy. These are fantastic. Congrats on some mighty fine shooting there. I really need to get up there some day and see the eagles.

Ron, were the bulk of these from the float trip, or did you shoot them from land?

BTW, it's good to see what the MKIII/100-400 combo can do with the TC1.4. That combo won't focus reliably on a crop body camera, regardless of what anybody says.

Cheers,
-joel

None were from the float trip, they were all from the shoulder of the road (along the north side of the Skagit River).

And yes, focus is possible at f/8.0 with the MKIII, but you only get the center focus point. Some of these were manually focused due to the snow throwing off the AF, and they were all hand-held. The BIF shots were all servo I believe, but it managed to track fairly well even with the single focus point. Definitely better than my previous camera (a 20D) which I had to use manual focus for f/8.0 all the time, which worked occasionally, like in this shot:



I'd love to try/rent the 400 f/2.8 or 500 f/4, but then I'd probably need a tripod and a wimberly head (what I really need is a hobby that isn't so !@#$!$! expensive, and shooting wildlife is probably the worst as far as that goes).

Anyway I'd definitely recommend seeing the eagles, even if you don't come away with any photos, it's still great seeing them such a high concentration, as well as seeing all the juveniles which are HUGE.

coscorrosa

Harryb wrote:

Excellent set Ron.

Thanks Harry!

bryanj87

Yeah, I'd be ok with a frost bitten foot for 2 days to get eagle shots like that. (And the landscapes were darn good as well!)

Maestro

I sure love 6 and 10. I would love to get up there some day and photograph these there as well. Great job. You did not seem rusty at all.

tisun

Awesome shots.

PrescottPhotog

coscorrosa wrote:

From late November to late February bald eagles as far away as Alaska migrate to the upper Skagit River (in northern Washington State near the North Cascades) to feast on the dead salmon that have finished spawning. Right now is peak viewing time.

Hi Ron, Great shots under difficult conditions (cold and wet). I've heard that the Skagit River is quite an experience. With all the snow you guys have had this year it would seem like pretty tough shooting, or even getting close. Excellent !!!

coscorrosa

PrescottPhotog wrote:

Hi Ron, Great shots under difficult conditions (cold and wet). I've heard that the Skagit River is quite an experience. With all the snow you guys have had this year it would seem like pretty tough shooting, or even getting close. Excellent !!!

Thanks!

Actually, it's not too bad, the main highway is mostly clear of snow, and it wasn't raining when I was there just snowing lightly which isn't too difficult to shoot in (except that it throws off the AF). It is a great spot, I'm going to try and make it up there 1-2 more times this year. There's some good landscapes too.

coscorrosa

bryanj87 wrote:

Yeah, I'd be ok with a frost bitten foot for 2 days to get eagle shots like that. (And the landscapes were darn good as well!)

Thanks Bryan, no more tingling toes, guess 3 days was all it took to shake it

coscorrosa

Maestro wrote:

I sure love 6 and 10. I would love to get up there some day and photograph these there as well. Great job. You did not seem rusty at all.

The key is volume. As long as I take 1,000 exposures, dumb luck should lend me 1-2 keepers regardless of rust level

Thwack

Great captures! Congrats and thanks for sharing them.

Tharhawk

Very nice, this reminds me of when I used to kayak a lot on the sauk, downey and suiattle rivers (all run into the skagit eventually). Seeing the eagles perched above head, as you floated by in a deep, green pools with the rat-tat-tat of the water seeping in from streams all about. Great rememinders your photos gave me. Thanks.

jason...

PrescottPhotog

coscorrosa wrote:

From late November to late February bald eagles as far away as Alaska migrate to the upper Skagit River

Just out of curiosity, is all your flooding (according to the TV news) going to ruin it for the eagles and the Festival. Hope not.

coscorrosa

Tharhawk wrote:

Very nice, this reminds me of when I used to kayak a lot on the sauk, downey and suiattle rivers (all run into the skagit eventually). Seeing the eagles perched above head, as you floated by in a deep, green pools with the rat-tat-tat of the water seeping in from streams all about. Great rememinders your photos gave me. Thanks.

jason...

Thanks Jason, the North Cascades are breathtaking for landscapes and wildlife, I definitely plan on going up there more often this year.

coscorrosa

PrescottPhotog wrote:

Just out of curiosity, is all your flooding (according to the TV news) going to ruin it for the eagles and the Festival. Hope not.

That's a very good question that I was also wondering about, my guess is that it's bad news as it will be harder for the eagles to get to the salmon (though the shallower areas may have a higher concentration of eagles now). I'll find out in a week or so when I go back up there (and if I get any photos, I'll post them).

Thankfully it doesn't look like the Skagit flooded too badly (certainly not as bad as some of the other rivers around here):

http://ahps2.wrh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=sew&gage=conw1&view=1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1

SciurusNiger

#3, #10-12 are spot-on! I can only imagine what a sight that must have been. I'm familiar with the general landscape, having lived on the other side of the Sound years ago and seeing these kinds of shots really makes me feel nostalgic.

Your camera not liking the cold made me smile. My poor D2Xs has been out in everything here this year; from the 90+ summer afternoons to the recent -12 windchill, as well as some pretty heavy snows and even chasing a red-tail in the rain yet the only time she's failed to perform is when I've forgotten to recharge her battery. Makes me feel awfully grateful (and wise) to have finally invested in this ... ummm... hobby!

Will look forward to seeing more shots from your next trip there.

PrescottPhotog

SciurusNiger wrote:

Your camera not liking the cold made me smile.

My first Mark III totally locked up on me on a not so cold outing (was below 32F though). The replacement has made it through one winter and one hot Arizona summer and now going on second winter.. so far no problems. We get down into the low teens here in Jan, Fed, March.. then it warms up to 50 or 60 during the day, so a big swing in a short few hours. Luckily we don't have very much humidity to foul things up. I was close to home when mine froze up so I can imagine having it happen like you did would really torque me.