Magnificent, interesting eagles
About 170 U.S. military veterans and their guests enjoyed the Veterans’ Eagles Cruise Saturday, Dec. 1, with personnel of the Bureau of Land Management on a Coeur d’Alene Resort cruise boat.
Golden eagles and bald eagles are the two species in North America—of 59 total species of eagles in the world. They eat rodents and small mammals. Other raptors such as Osprey use poles and branchless trees for their nests. It’s against the law to shoot these raptors.
The eagles come down from Canada because it’s getting cold to the north. They stop at Pend Oreille and Coeur d’Alene lakes for five or six weeks to eat the spawning kokanee salmon.
They like the east side of Lake Coeur d’Alene because of the gravel there where the fish lay their eggs and die. The male kokanee fertilizes the eggs, and both the males and females die and float to the top where the eagles dive and grab them.
Bald eagles get their white heads at age 5. They use trees for nests that are 10 to 15 feet across.
Once the kokanee spawn has tapered off, the eagles go south to the Snake River plain and Nevada.
In the spring they go to British Columbia where they have nests and lay their eggs and hatch eaglets. They lay two or three eggs. It takes 35 days for these eggs to develop. The eggs are white and speckled and bigger than chicken eggs. The first year the eagles are brown, and by age 5 they’re brown and white. When grown, the females are twice as big as the males. Eagles live 10 to 15 years.
Bald eagles are signified on the U.S. Seal holding a branch of peace with 13 arrows of war, symbolizing the 13 colonies that became states. There also are 13 letters in “E Pluribus Unum.”
BLM personnel helping on the cruise were Carrie Hugo, wildlife biologist; Beth Paragamian, wildlife educator; Suzanne Endsley, public affairs; and Rich Paine, natural research specialist.
Among the veterans was World War II veteran Burton Keen, 96.
Suggested viewing areas for non-cruisers include Higgens Point, Mineral Ridge Boat Ramp and Mineral Ridge Trailhead.