Eagle numbers dip, but fans still flock

Fewer eagles, a bit of snow and a possible downturn in spawning kokanee didn’t keep families from visiting the Mineral Ridge recreation area near Wolf Lodge Bay Friday for eagle watching and hiking.

Biologists and conservationists from the Bureau of Land Management have spotting scopes set up along Highway 97 from Wolf Lodge Bay to Beauty Bay and helpers are on hand to spot eagles. The scopes will remain up through Tuesday.

Although the third week of December is usually the height of the eagle migration through North Idaho in which migrating birds flock to feed on the spawning, landlocked salmon of northern Coeur d’Alene and southern Pend Oreille lakes, eagle numbers this year have flagged.

Possibly because the number of spawning salmon have also dropped, fewer eagles are hanging around, said Suzanne Endsley of the BLM, which operates the boat launch at Wolf Lodge and Mineral Ridge hiking trail.

Biologists found 123 birds at last count a week ago, and 259 birds two weeks ago, down from the highest number — 383 — counted two years ago.

“A lot of eagles came earlier,” Endsley said. “Once the spawning is done, the eagles kind of move south to their next meal.”

Kokanee, a small, landlocked red salmon that lives in many North Idaho lakes, usually spawns in the gravelly shores around Wolf Lodge Bay. The height of spawning coincides with the eagles’ migration from places like eastern Alaska and interior British Columbia. The birds are on their way to southern Idaho, Nevada and southern Utah, feeding along the way.

Snow and colder weather this week didn’t dampen the spirits of eagle watchers despite just a handful of birds counted on Thursday.

“There are a lot of people and families out,” Endsley said.

Snow makes it harder to see the birds, which often roost in trees to wait out a squall, she said.

Whether spawning counts were lower this year remains to be seen, fishery biologist Ryan Hardy of Idaho Fish and Game said Friday. The results aren’t yet available although Hardy said spawning occurs from Arrow Point east to Beauty Bay and along the lake’s northern shore near Higgens Point.

“There’s a lot of spawning all along that northeast corner of the lake,” he said.

Anglers this year on Lake Coeur d’Alene had one of the best kokanee seasons on record, Hardy said. Many of the fish were around 14 inches — large for kokanee, which are also called blueback, or silvers. Because kokanee size is density dependent, big fish can mean fewer fish.

“Often if there are large fish, there aren’t as many fish,” Hardy said.

Just as the number of spawning kokanee fluctuates, so do annual eagle counts, Endsley said.

“It’s been variable over the years,” she said.

This year’s counts were roughly the same as other years, she said.

“They are about similar,” she said. “But we’ve had some banner years.”