Stunning scene

What winter display could be more spectacular than that of an adult bald eagle soaring through the chill winter fog; to see it suddenly spiral to the lake’s surface and rise with a large fish clutched in its talons? Or to watch from below as the huge bird tears off strips of meat while perched precariously on a small, dead limb?

That’s currently the daily scene out at Wolf Lodge Bay, at the east end of Lake Coeur d’Alene. Each year at this time, the introduced kokanee salmon of Lake Coeur d’Alene complete their three-year life cycle by spawning and dying.

Each year at this time, bald eagles, in ever increasing numbers, arrive to take advantage of this plentiful supply of dead and dying fish. And each year at this time we, who love the birds, arrive to watch in awe.

You’d have to love these birds, for there is little reason otherwise to be around the lake at this time of year. The air is cold, the snow is deep, and the roads are treacherous. But eagles are magnificent. And where else could you go to see so many bald eagles, mature and immature, congregated in one small bay?

As the fish begin to spawn in November, eagles begin to arrive. As spawning season peaks during the last week of December, so do eagle numbers. And as spawning subsides, toward the end of January, most eagles will depart for better hunting somewhere in the Southwest.

Right now, eagle feeding activity is greatest just after dawn, but viewing is not. It’s been almost zero degrees at that time of the morning until lately. As the day goes on, there is less fishing and flying, and more perching. And the weather conditions improve a bit, too.

Still, use caution: The roads are icy, the parking lots are icy, and the wind is icy. But the scene is spectacular, and in the end, the conditions are well worth it. After all, even a picture is enough to cause you to stop and take notice of our splendid national bird. Can’t you just imagine the real thing, doing its thing?