“There is a big black bird sitting in a tree we just passed,” my friend, Mike, said as we motored up Ririe Reservoir, while heading up kokanee fishing early in June. It was still there when we headed back down, so we slowed down and discovered it was an immature bald eagle. With closer inspection we located its nest-mate still in the nest with its head sticking above the edge of a huge nest hidden in the tree.
During June and early July, Mike and I would fish each Wednesday and most Mondays, I would fish the reservoir with my friend, Craig. We would pass the nest each trip early in the morning and would see the female with them, but it was too dark for pictures, and she would usually be gone when we came back. I recorded the eaglets maturing and the adult’s activities each time we were on the reservoir.
We did not observe the adults feeding the youngsters, but they must have been fed well as they grew fast and became active in the tree around the nest. They went from being scruffy black to a handsome dark brown and their bills lost their large yellow coloring into a hooked weapon. They also became more visible as they moved from the nest to the outer branches.
One day while we were fishing, a ring-billed gull captured a small fish near the nest and the female chased the gull until it dropped the fish. During the chase I was able to capture pictures of the eagle’s amazing acrobatic moves. One morning, the male flew overhead carrying a large kokanee that he had captured or stole from an osprey.
The male could be seen most days, perched high on the rim of the canyon on its favorite rock that he had white-washed with digested fish while his keen eyesight tried to locate prey on the reservoir.
About a quarter of a mile from the nest is a large colony of bank swallows who are also raising their young. Twice we have observed the female eagle perched near the cliff, probably waiting for one of the swallows to make a mistake. One of the times she appeared very wet and was trying to dry off her wings. Somehow, she ended up in the water; I wish at I had seen that happen.
During the first week of July, the eaglets were not in the nest tree when we visited, but one was there two days later. During one of our last trips, we observed both of them high on the ridge above the water, trying out their new wings.
It will be interesting to watch this family as the summer progresses, but the excitement will show up when the kokanee begins to spawn. Several other bald eagles and ospreys will show up to battle over the dying salmon. Eagles do not like to get their feathers wet and would rather steal a meal from an osprey than take a chance of getting wet. We will enjoy the show that they will provide.
By the way, the kokanee fishing is very good most days and they can be found over most of the reservoir. Fishing is better in the early morning because they go deeper during the heat of the day when the recreational boaters show up.
I hope you have a wonderful and safe week.
