The Eagle Has Landed…at the Holler!

Apr2

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I have never spotted a Bald Eagle in Hollerdom before so this was a most rockin, eagle-watchin, day!
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I travel to Canada and Alaska to try to spot these beauties up close. Bald Eagle populations in Southern California have been decimated in the past decades from residual DDT, habitat destruction, and human persecution.
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I know there are a few Bald Eagles in the area, but having never seen one here in my lifetime, today was an epic day!
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This eagle is tagged with a number 83. As far as I can ascertain she may be an eagle bred in Channel Islands National Park as part of a Bald Eagle restoration study/project. I am not at all certain of this. If anyone knows the identity of this tagged eagle, and if she is from The Channel Island Project, please let me know.
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The study reports Bald Eagle K83, tagged in Channel Islands National Park, was spotted in Mission Bay in 2012 which is around 75 miles from The Holler. Check out this table from the study and note eagle tagged K83:

Table 4. Status of bald eagles released or fledged from nests on Santa Catalina Island, CA prior to 2012 and seen
in 2012.

629-29499 F K-02 West End 2000 Alive, Lake Hemet, CA
629-02780 M K-10 Twin Rocks 2001 Alive, Pelican Harbor pair, Santa Cruz Is.
629-02793 F K-26 West End 2002 Alive, Pelican Harbor pair, Santa Cruz Is.
629-47371 F K-47 Seal Rocks 2004 Alive, Rattlesnake pair, Catalina Is.
629-47398 F K-56 Seal Rocks 2005 Alive, Pinnacle Rock pair, Catalina Is.
629-52425 M K-00 Pinnacle Rock 2007 Alive, Twin Rocks pair, Catalina Is.
629-52428 M K-73 West End 2007 Alive, Pinnacle Rock pair, Catalina Is.
629-52434 F K-03 Seal Rocks 2007 Alive, Lake Elizabeth, CA 3/8/12
629-52442 F K-83 Two Harbors 2008 Alive, Mission Bay, CA 3/7/12
629-52443 M K-88 Twin Rocks 2008 Alive, San Clemente Island 12/19/12
629-52446 F K-67 West End 2008 Alive, Santa Rosa Island 6/20/12
629-52449 F K-87 Two Harbors 2009 Alive, San Clemente Island 4/22/12
629-52450 F K-91 Two Harbors 2009 Alive, Catalina Island 9/12
629-03429 F K-97 West End 2009 Alive, Catalina Island 5/17/12
629-03431 F K-05 Seal Rocks 2010 Alive, Santa Cruz Island 4/20/12
629-04104 F K-15 Rattlesnake 2011 Alive, Catalina Island 9/28/12
629-04106 F K-12 West End 2011 Alive, Dillon, MT 2/18/12

Most of the eagles seemed to stay in the Channel Islands National Park as of this 2012 survey, but one was found all the way in Montana, another in Hemet which is a desert community in Central California, and K83 was seen in Mission Bay which is on the ocean in San Diego County.
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I saw another Bald Eagle in the sky today, so there seems to be a pair!
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I wonder what the Holler Hawks make of the Holler Eagles!
Cheers to you from the Holler Eagles and a very thrilled birdie photographer~
For a link to the study I found online, click on the link below. You will note that attempts to successfully restore Bald Eagles to Southern California has been challenging and difficult:
http://www.montroserestoration.noaa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Montrose-bald-eagle-report-2012-final-031913.pdf

309 thoughts on “The Eagle Has Landed…at the Holler!”

  9. These are such magnificent birds! We have a bald eagle colony at Jordan Lake, about 20 miles from where I live, There is an observation point from which you can watch them – they are very protected – but the spot is overrun with enthusiastic birders! Great close-ups!

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    • How wonderful! A colony would be incredible to see. I do not want to give any specifics on where this eagle is for just this reason. I don’t want her to be spooked away by people.

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  14. Wow Cindy!! You must have persistence to be able to find a beauty like this. So majestic. I took the grand-girls to the zoo and we were fairly close to a bald eagle and it’s nest. We couldn’t believe how large it was. Thanks for your vivid pictures!!

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    • Awesome possum! The only thing that Hitch failed to do here was to model the hats, which is truly a shame. He may have lacked the, errrrrr, sexual confidence for that. He certainly does explain, with good reason, why the birds in his movie were so p.o’d with people. I watched every one of these shows several times as a kid. They are SO AWESOME! And “The Birds” was true brilliance! It really gave ravens a bad name, but Poe did that too!
      Loved this!! Thank you!

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  24. Beautiful eagle protraits. I remember the excitement I felt the first time I saw an eagle near our home on the Chesapeake Bay. I’ll never forget it. And, your captured such beautiful images!

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  28. Cindy, Great photos. I grew up on a farm in Virginia where we had resident eagles. Even as a kid, I was fascinated by them–and seeing them was always an event. One question: how were you able to determine the identification number.
    Merlinjr01 / Renaissance Musings

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    • Eagles are just incredibly thrilling to see, so I fully understand your feelings. I enlarged the photos, saw the number, and googled tagged eagles, and the whole amazing mystery unfolded, including where this eagle hatched and the program that enabled him to live and thrive!

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  30. Pingback: Rapture~ | From guestwriters

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