Eagle count still high
Photo by Steven Peak A bald eagle sits on a branch at Higgens Point.
COEUR d'ALENE — By late December, the number of bald eagles hanging out around Lake Coeur d'Alene usually begins to dwindle.
Not this year.
The Bureau of Land Management's eagle count around Wolf Lodge Bay on Dec. 28 was 227, with 149 adults, 33 juveniles and 47 unknown age due to being in-flight.
That's the highest in several years.
Last year, Dec. 28, BLM counted 10 eagles around the same area. The 2020-21 count Dec. 16 was 46 and the Dec. 29, 2019-20 count was just 22.
The last time the late-December count was higher than this year's tally was in 2018-19, when it reached 227 on Dec. 21.
"The number of eagles fluctuates based on the number of dead and dying kokanee," according to BLM. "By the first week in January the number of spawning salmon declines and most of the eagles have dispersed. Only a few eagles remain in the area through portions of January and February as most have departed for more southerly destinations along their migration route before returning to their traditional nesting sites."
The kokanee are still spawning in Lake Coeur d'Alene, so the eagles are still soaring in North Idaho.
Photographers have enjoyed a solid season of capturing eagles and appreciate that they haven't all moved on just yet.
"We still have eagles hanging around and lots of people today out looking at the eagles," wrote Steven Peak on Thursday.
The Bureau of Land Management began counting bald eagles around Wolf Lodge Bay in 1974. It reported a high of 383 eagles Dec. 20, 2017. On Nov. 29, 2018, the count reached 343, while Dec. 2, 2019, the count totaled 259 eagles.