Today I verified something which I had read about the eagles in Valdez…that there is one guy who has a license to feed them in May and June, and he does so across the street from this RV Park over at the Bayside RV Park. Not very many people have this license, and some say he is the last in Alaska with a license...but I cannot be sure about that.
The Eagles anticipate the feeding, gathering in trees nearby. Yesterday, with the cruddy weather, he did not seem to do a feeding. He feeds them cut fish, what looks like the portion near the tail along with heads. He does not seem to do it the same time each day, and it probably depends upon what time the catch comes in each day. It looked to me like very few boat went out yesterday…but today was a bright sunny day, and the catch must have been good because he had lots of fish to feed them.
It sure makes for good picture taking, that’s for sure.
Before they settle down in the trees, they fly all over the skies. These targets are harder to get…but persistence and many bad pictures will produce a number of keepers.
Today’s feeding show gathered two dozen people or so. I counted at least 20 different eagles, and numerous seagulls. The guy in blue to the left in the crowd is the feeder.
In the three pictures above, you can see the Eagle in the first picture headed for the fish part, in the second it is grabbing it, and in the third it is flying away with it clutched in its claw. The bird on the ground is an immature Bald Eagle…there was two of them, both on the ground, for most of the feeding. Sometimes the feeder tosses the fish up in the air, and an eagle will catch it before it hits the ground, but I could not get a picture of that.
Sometimes even an adult will land and eat its share…but normally the adults will fly off and eat while they are flying.
So that’s our story about “Flying like an Eagle”, now for the “Slipping on a Step” portion of our story…
Yes, one of us slipped and fell getting out of the motorhome yesterday on our way to do laundry. Well, the hospital bed is empty, so that is pretty good news…
Yes, Marcia took a fall…put her foot down on our step, her foot slips right out and she falls on the steps on her butt…but it was her arm, which was holding onto the outside handle of the motorhome, that took the hurt. She thought she might have torn a rotator cuff…but thank goodness the good doctor said that she probably just pulled it, perhaps a small tear. They had a physical therapist come in and give her a crash course on exercising it out, and by 11 a.m. we were on our way back to the motorhome. Sore, yes, butt it could have been worse (no, I did not misspell that word).
- The End -
