Bald eagles stop for fish dinner in Idaho

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — The eagles of Lake Coeur d'Alene have landed.

Bald eagles have begun trickling in on their annual journey from as far north as Alberta, Canada, to fatten up on the kokanee salmon spawning in the northern Idaho lake.

They'll bring with them thousands of dedicated bird watchers from across the United States — and sometimes even from outside the country — who come to watch the birds every year.

Only about six birds had landed as of late last week when Scott Robinson, wildlife biologist for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Coeur d'Alene, conducted the most recent count.

But Robinson said the numbers will increase steadily every week for the next month until early January, when the birds will leave to head farther south.

Researchers first began tracking the bald eagles' trips to Lake Coeur d'Alene in 1974. The first count found 59 birds in the Wolf Lodge Bay area. Their numbers jumped in 2000, and the eagles set a record in 2004, when 156 came to feast on the smorgasbord of fish in the lake.

When the fish die off, the eagles move on, likely south near Boise and then farther on to near Salt Lake City, researchers believe.

"The daily life of an eagle in Wolf Lodge includes a dawn flight from a nightly roost over a mile away," Phil Cooper, of the Idaho Fish and Game Department, told The Spokesman Review. "Feeding activity begins upon arrival at the lake and continues throughout the early morning. Eagles will locate a fish from the air or a perch over the water, swoop down and grab the fish with sharp talons, then returning to a feeding perch in a tree."

Each year, the eagles attract about 4,000 visitors, who thrill to the birds' majestic glides and dramatic dives, Robinson said. The BLM tracks the visitors who come to see the birds every year, he said, and has found people from all 50 states, and from 30 different countries.

"For many people the bird represents power, it represents majesty, of course, and as a national emblem, it represents strength and also peace at the same time," Robinson told The Associated Press on Monday.

The gathering is expected to peak in late December, before the lake freezes over and the eagles can no longer get to the fish. The birds usually feed most actively in the early morning and the late afternoon.

The BLM is sponsoring the 16th annual Eagle Watch Week at the northeast end of the lake between Dec. 26 and Jan. 1, and will bring out staff biologists and exhibits on the birds.