Summer bald eagles in Homer....advice needed!

[Laurence Jackson]

I am planning a trip next July to Minnesota for black bears and Alaska for bears and bald eagles...My question is regarding Homer where I hope to be based for a week or so. What is the bald eagle situation like there now in summer, now that the eagle lady has passed on? I have read anecdotally that there are still eagles around, especially on the spit, but are they in generally large numbers? I realise its a winter Mecca of sorts, but 'Im in Australia, so because of work I can't get there in November unfortunately.

Any advice, shooting tips or stories would be most welcome thanks!
Laurence

 

[Calson]

With the bears and the bald eagles their appearance coincides with salmon runs which varies by stream and by time of year. A run on a particular river can happen early or late and so no guarantees. A float plane is a good way to get to where the bears have been spotted on prior days. The salmon runs in Haines area are October to November.

Bald Eagle Viewing Spots | Eagle's Nest Locations Around Alaska

The proud bald eagle makes for one of Alaska's most distinctive and thrilling sightings. Here's our list of where to see Bald Eagles in Alaska.

www.alaska.org

 

[jcgamble]

I was there in August 2021 for about 4 days. Saw a few Bald Eagles around, no great numbers.

 

[ricardo00]

I am planning a trip next July to Minnesota for black bears and Alaska for bears and bald eagles...My question is regarding Homer where I hope to be based for a week or so. What is the bald eagle situation like there now in summer, now that the eagle lady has passed on? I have read anecdotally that there are still eagles around, especially on the spit, but are they in generally large numbers? I realise its a winter Mecca of sorts, but 'Im in Australia, so because of work I can't get there in November unfortunately.

Any advice, shooting tips or stories would be most welcome thanks!
Laurence

I was in Homer a number of years ago and don't remember seeing many bald eagles. There are small planes that can fly you from the Homer area to places where you will see brown bears catching salmon. However an alternative is to fly from Soldotna (which isn't far from Homer) to Lake Clark and stay in one of the two lodges there (Homestead or Silver Salmon Creek Lodge) and see the brown bears there. You can also do day trips or stay a night or two there. You may see some bald eagles there. However there are better places. One mentioned in the article above is Haines, AK. However that is quite a ways away from Homer. Is there something in particular that you are interested in seeing in at Homer? In Haines, there is a weir on the Chilkoot River that forces the salmon to line up to go upstream and you can photograph both the bald eagles and brown bears catching the salmon. There won't be huge numbers of bald eagles but we saw plenty to photograph in August.
{

https://flic.kr/p/29jQpKC

}

 

[Laurence Jackson]

Thanks for the replies, I'm aware of the bear excursions and options although I only have about 6 days in Alaska and I dont particularly like small floatplanes....There are some boat options also luckily. There seems to be plenty of general birding opportunities on the Kenai Peninsula so I dont think I will go eagle-less and raptor-less, even if the numbers are relatively low.

 

[Anjin San]

I am planning a trip next July to Minnesota for black bears and Alaska for bears and bald eagles...My question is regarding Homer where I hope to be based for a week or so. What is the bald eagle situation like there now in summer, now that the eagle lady has passed on? I have read anecdotally that there are still eagles around, especially on the spit, but are they in generally large numbers? I realise its a winter Mecca of sorts, but 'Im in Australia, so because of work I can't get there in November unfortunately.

Any advice, shooting tips or stories would be most welcome thanks!
Laurence

Eagles in AK are like squirrels everyplace else…they call them Dutch Harbor pigeons out in the Aleutians.

 

[ricardo00]

Eagles in AK are like squirrels everyplace else…they call them Dutch Harbor pigeons out in the Aleutians.

But getting pics of bald eagles catching fish is not so easy. Bald eagles eating handouts/garbage or sitting in trees is much easier.

 

[NorthernFocus]

There are plenty of eagles in Homer but they don't concentrate in numbers without some sort of incentive. If you want concentrated numbers and/or shots of them fishing the only sure way it so find a boat that goes out and feeds them. The city of Homer outlawed feeding the birds after the Eagle Lady passed but the nearby waters of the bay are out of the jurisdiction. So there are local charter operators who do it. I don't have any names or I'd share. Another option is to drive half an hour to Anchor Point. Dozens of birds hang around the beach/mouth of the river.

 

[Laurence Jackson]

There are plenty of eagles in Homer but they don't concentrate in numbers without some sort of incentive. If you want concentrated numbers and/or shots of them fishing the only sure way it so find a boat that goes out and feeds them. The city of Homer outlawed feeding the birds after the Eagle Lady passed but the nearby waters of the bay are out of the jurisdiction. So there are local charter operators who do it. I don't have any names or I'd share. Another option is to drive half an hour to Anchor Point. Dozens of birds hang around the beach/mouth of the river.

Thanks Dan and everyone else.

I will definitely be driving around and I have heard that they are in good numbers up at the Russian river and Anchor Point also. I'm not necessarily after fishing/hunting shots, though I will be more than happy to try for them. I think those shots are better in the winter from what I have learned. General portrait and flight shots would make me very happy!