SPOKANE — The Bureau of Land Management earlier this month counted the highest number of bald eagles at Lake Coeur d’Alene since it began keeping records nearly 50 years ago.
On Dec. 20, BLM wildlife biologist Carrie Hugo counted 409 eagles.
“A lot of activity happening out there,” she said.
Hugo takes a tally of eagles once a week each year between November and January as she drives a 12-mile route around Wolf Lodge Bay on the lake’s northeast arm. She doesn’t add everything up until the end, so she was surprised to set the record.
“I knew there was a lot; I didn’t know there was that many,” Hugo said.
She counted 363 adult eagles and 46 juveniles.
It’s not an exact count, because inevitably she double counts some by the time she finishes, but it is a good index of how many eagles are out there year to year. The previous record was 372 in 2017.
Eagles flock to the lake this time of year to feed on kokanee salmon spawning at the end of their life cycle. There are a few year-round resident eagles, but most migrate from the British Columbia Interior as lakes there freeze.
“It is a really good year for kokanee,” Hugo said. “I have never seen so many washed up on the shoreline.”
The population of kokanee booms and busts in cycles. Years with more kokanee attract more eagles.
The kokanee population is high right now, but not at a record, said Mike Thomas, a fisheries biologist for Idaho Fish and Game.
Most recent low counts came in 2018, when Idaho Fish and Game estimated there were between 2 million and 4 million of them. The population has since rebounded, and the most recent estimate was roughly 10 million.
Thomas said he doesn’t expect a drastic change in kokanee population next year.
Andy Dux, regional fisheries manager for Idaho Fish and Game, said there are fewer kokanee in Lake Pend Oreille this year, and as a result, more eagles flew to Lake Coeur d’Alene. In years when Pend Oreille has more kokanee, it works the opposite way, he said.
“Bottom line, there are multiple factors that influence eagle abundance on Lake Coeur d’Alene that make it difficult to predict how many there will be from one year to the next,” Dux said.
The eagle count usually peaks in late December, then drops off quickly as the spawning numbers go down, Hugo said. The birds leave as they start competing with each other.
“Usually by mid-January there are hardly any left,” Hugo said.
The abundance during this short window makes for great viewing of America’s national symbol.
Hugo urges people to see the birds of prey while they can. The best times are early in the morning just after it gets light and again from about 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. as the birds catch their last fish of the day before it gets too dark.
Wildlife viewers and photographers gathered at one of the popular pullouts, the parking lot of Mineral Ridge Boat Launch, on Wednesday.
At first glance, hundreds of ordinary gulls covered the lake. But a closer look to the trees above the hillside revealed the eagles’ bald heads.
Carl Crowe noticed more eagles than usual this year, especially of larger groups clustered together. Four were perched in a row on nearby branches of the same tree.
“Pretty neat,” he said. “It’s hard to capture on my iPhone.”
Crowe, who is retired and lives in Spokane, isn’t a serious birder, but he likes to check out the eagles most years with his wife, Dennie.
When he was the principal of Garry Middle School, he took students on a field trip to see the eagles from a cruise on the lake. It was an educational experience, he said. For many students, it was their first time on a boat, and many had never left Washington before.
Crowe peered through his binoculars as two eagles swooped down to the glassy lake surface, jostling for the same fish.
The small crowd oohed and aahed.
