Bald Eagle Watching 2025, We Missed It!

We have been going to see the eagles on Lake Coeur d Alene every December for at least 12 years.  I follow the Bureau of Land Management bald eagle count that is posted weekly.  Well, this year we had the government shut down and the count was delayed.  I can look back several years to see when the peak of the eagle count happens.  Most of the time it is in mid December.  I saw the count at about 284 eagles on November 26.  My thought was the count would go up and we could wait a week or so.  Nope.  The next bald eagle count went down by about 100 eagles.  We headed out.  We did miss the peak for sure but there were still bald eagles to find.  Not as many and the great picture opportunities were few and far between.  It was still amazing to see how majestic and how huge bald eagles look as the soar in the sky.  I was prepared, camera in hand ready to shoot pictures of the bald eagles. 

Mike and his spotting scope. He is a pro at spotting the eagles in the trees. It was nice that there was no snow.  The bald eagles are harder to find when there is snow in the trees.  They have white heads you know.  We did have to brave some wind and a bit of rain.  This is the second spot we went to.  

Can you tell it was windy? 

There was a little issue with Mike and his glasses.  They went missing.  We searched and searched where we were watching the bald eagles.  No luck.  Mike was ready to replace the glasses.  We headed to Michael D's for breakfast as we always do. Mike had to use my glasses to read the menu.  Charming. 

They fit him perfectly.  The glasses were eventually found.  

Lessoned learned.  If the bald eagle count gets over 200 go.  If the count goes up we can always go again.  I look forward to this tradition every year!  We will be back next year.  

Isaiah 40:31 Those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary and walk and not faint. 

Bald Eagle Watching In Idaho December 10, 2024

Off we went for our annual trip to see the bald eagles outside of Coeur d Alene, Idaho.  I watch the count online and the last count was 279. There will be more coming.  Last year was a record year with over 400 eagles.  We went to our usual spot and saw one eagle in a tree.  Where were they all?  We picked a decent weather day and one with no snow.  You can't find the eagles white heads in the snow. This was odd.  Mike was talking with Jonathan.  Jonathan told us another place to go see the bald eagles.  Before we went to the spot Jonathan shared we drove down the road a few miles to see if we could see any eagles there. 

We found two eagles!  Some pictures may be very similar but I have a hard time leaving any picture of bald eagles off the blog.  Believe me I deleted a bunch!

Brilliant idea to bring hot chocolate.  It was cold! Not freezing but close.  We prepare for the weather and bundled up!  

We really liked the spot Jonathan recommended.  Easier access to see the eagles.  As we talked with others taking pictures of the eagles they mentioned a lot of the eagles were on the other side of the lake. There were definitely more bald eagles at this spot compared to our usual spot. 

This is a tour boat to see the eagles.  I like the up close and personal better for sure. 

I took the next few pictures through the spotting scope with my stronger lens.  I didn't think I could do that but it worked.  I thought the pictures would turn out really blurry. 

No more spotting scope!

I was lucky to get this bald eagle taking flight.  

I have always wanted to get the bald eagles in flight with little success.  We had two cameras this time and Mike used my smaller one so I was always ready to get flying pictures with my stronger lens on.  Sometimes in the past I would take the stronger lens off and exchange it for a smaller lens to take pictures with the spotting scope.  It would be right about then a big eagle would fly by.  No taking the lens off this year.  When I saw this eagle take off I was super excited and nervous about getting the shot.  

If I had a stronger lens then these would be better but these are AOK!

The eagle was getting closer. 

This sparks joy in my heart. 

It's hard to see but this bald eagle has a fish in its talons. 

Here we go! Taking a bite. 

You can see the fish a bit better here!

A mouthful of fish!

Chilling together!

There is a bald eagle behind the branch. 

I followed it. 

This eagle is about to grab a fish. 

These next two are blurry but I include them anyway. 

You can see the grab in a blurry sort of way. 

Here are the rest of the pictures! These pictures were taken with the camera Mike was using.  He puts the camera on the spotting scope and gets great pictures. 

This eagle is chilling! 

Big, really big! You really don't realize how big these eagles are until you see them close up flying. 

We spent so much time viewing and photographing the bald eagles the places we like to eat afterwards were closed. We headed home this year.  Next year we will go earlier.  No one likes to miss out on eating. HAHA.  We had a great time taking pictures, talking to others and being in God's creation. I think this was one of the best photo taking trips we have experienced.  We also learned a new place to watch the eagles that is actually closer than our original place.