BAYVIEW, Idaho — I've covered the eagles plenty of times. Just like the holiday season, cold weather, or exciting Gonzaga basketball games, the eagles are without a doubt an Inland Northwest winter tradition that provides dependable fun.
Tuesday was no exception.
Both video and still-cameras in tow, photojournalist Jeff Bollinger and I took up an offer from a veteran Lake Pend Oreille boater to view the impressive convocations of birds from the water.
While we were too busy snapping photos and recording video to keep count, we're certain we spotted at least 100 eagles stretching from Bayview to the Southern end of the lake. In some instances, at least half a dozen of the birds shared a single tree, keeping their scavenger eyes glued to to the lake in anticipation of another tasty kokanee to make its way to the surface.
You'll recall that each year, migrating eagles stop at Lake Pend Oreille and Lake Coeur d'Alene to feast on the spawning salmon. As the fish reach the end of their life cycle, they become the perfect meal for the birds.
Bird watchers and photographers both professional and amateur alike (myself included) enjoy the feast too.
PHOTOS: Bald eagles flock to Lake Pend Oreille
While Wolf Lodge Bay on Lake Coeur d'Alene is known as a popular destination for the eagles, areas around Bayview on Lake Pend Oreille have appeared to become eagle hotspots in recent years.
The late Ralph Jones of Ralph's Coffee House in Bayview first made the pitch to me six years ago. "Living in a postcard - That's what I feel like," a smiling Jones told me while we viewed eagles in December 2013. Jones, who had been properly dubbed Bayview's "unofficial ambassador" by the local paper, had reached out to KREM suggesting we skip Wolf Lodge and head to Lake Pend Oreille instead.
Six years later, I'm still not disappointed.
While locals have told me that eagle numbers have spiked in recent years, area eagle experts appear to agree. BLM biologist Carrie Hugo, who conducts eagle counts at Wolf Lodge Bay, says that over the last five years, her office has received increasing reports of the birds on Lake Pend Oreille. The increase, Hugo tells me, is likely connected to rebounding kokanee numbers there.
In my mind, it appears the recovery of the prized fish have once again proved beneficial for not only the eagles but shutterbugs like myself. While there is still time left to view the birds in both Bayview and on Lake Pend Oreille, I'm already looking forward to next year.
A special thanks goes out to Kevin Elmore at MacDonald's Resort in Bayview for taking us out on the lake.