The Eagles
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The Eagles
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by M. Kim Lewis
| The bald eagle is making such an incredible comeback that it may be removed from the endangered species list this June. In recent years in – just in southern Oregon's Klamath Basin alone - the eagle migration has been known to reach nearly 1000 eagles at one time in just one winter season. Each year, an increasing number of American Bald Eagles migrate southward from the upper latitudes of their North American homelands to gather by the hundreds to hunt, roost and act as "southern snowbirds" in Southern Oregon's mild winter climate from December to mid-March. | Please book mark this page because you will love the rest of them: Birding for everyone * The most exciting Places on Earth * The United States * Alaska * Canada * Spain * England and the United Kingdom * Africa * South America * Europe * Australia * New Zealand * The Far East * Good Insurance Quotes * Phoenix * Gila Bend -- future home of ocean front property * Grand Canyon * Cities * Adventure in Arizona * Other States * Navajo Artist * Travel Tips * Free Books |
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| Why do The Eagles Come to the Klamath Basin? For most Snow Birds, “going south to a mild winter climate” probably brings images of the sunny beaches of Mexico to mind rather than this snowy Cascade Mountain plateau with elevations of 4,000 to 5,000 feet. This is where Lower Klamath and Tulelake Wildlife Refuges of Southern Oregon and Northern California host these eagles. When you compare this time of year to the eagle's native Northern Canadian and Alaskan climates, where winter temperatures can range in the sub zero's nightly, warming up to the teens in the day, and suddenly it is easy to understand why eagles flock to this southern winter refuge. As every good Snow Bird knows, a supply of good food and other attractions is what make a retreat good. These eagles find plenty of choice food. For centuries, the Klamath Basin and Tulelake Basin has continued to be an unspoiled secret- a unique bottleneck providing a primary migratory stopover on the flyway north and south- for an abundance of diverse and rare waterfowl and raptors (see photo of Tundra Swans).We saw literally thousands upon thousands of Tundra swans engulfing the marshy basin filing the water ways and in visual v-patterns of white against the blue skies sounding their signature kwooo, kwooo. No wonder the eagles are glad to fly up to 300 miles per day, roosting at night to gather strength for the morrow. Once they are situated in a close to permanent area, the eagles start their day by hunting prey on icy landscapes from their perches on the branches of leafless cottonwood trees, fence posts and power poles. They keep an eagle eye out for injured or dead waterfowl from the past season, and they will stoop to hunt live mice, rodents. One of the most fascinating stunts an eagle can pull for observers is to plunge into the water and snatch up fish they have seen near the surface. Many times you will hear an explosion as they strike the water. Other times they barely skim the surface with a talon and pluck the fish out leaving scarcely a ripple behind them. |
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| Ornithologists, wildlife biologists and birders alike gather
at dawn in cars, vans and on foot to quietly observe scores of
eagles in unified flight from a night's roost in the Bear Valley
Refuge, a stand of alpine trees 12 miles south of Klamath Falls. After a full day of hunting, the same groups of birders often return at sunset to look to the ridges to see the same, then well-fed eagles returning to their protected alpine roosts for a good night's rest. The Klamath Basin region can be perfect weather for viewers with scopes, binoculars, photo cameras and tripods. It is normally in the lower 30's at night, and a balmy 45-60 in the daytime. While traveling across this fascinating region, one notices squared off tracts of land everywhere surrounded by irrigational canals, offering an almost safari-like quiet along diked vehicle trails, some marked for bird sightings. The sky is big here and there is little in the way to obstruct one's view. Agriculture still thrives as the number one industry, but many multi-generational hard-working farmers and ranchers of the region have recently realized there can be a unique balance of conservation and economic benefit in this prime farm and eco-region. Many farmers have been rotating their private land in tracts that go unfarmed and are submerged in marsh-like water tracts for years, providing increased wildlife birding habitat. When these areas are dried out later they become better and more fertile land for crops. As an added bonus, farmers are able to market their crops as organic, thus garnering higher prices at market. |
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Bio: M. Kim Lewis is an independent nationally published writer/photographer. Kim has covered such art organizations as Cirque Du Soleil and Southern Oregon Tourism Destinations for The San Francisco Chronicle and others, offering birding photography for the Oregon Department of Wildlife and more. He has also written for Velo Magazine- The Journal of Competitive Cycling. He owns Main Source Tours of Ashland, Or., and can be reached at www.ashland-tours.com [Ashland-Tours.com]. Internet PR by Chet Nickerson of Galaxy Web Works (http://www.galaxywebworks.com).
