March 19, 1998
Realizing that our 10 days of great weather was due to end soon we decided last Thursday, March 19, was time to head north to see the bald eagles we'd learned about at the raptor (hawks, eagles & owls) lecture we'd attended a couple weeks ago. The hawk and eagle expert had informed us that if you wanted to see bald eagles your best bet was to visit the Lower Klamath National Wild Life Sanctuary between mid December and mid March. The Sanctuary is located just east of highway 97 and just south of the Oregon border. We were at the tail end of the period but a call to the headquarters assured us we could still see a few eagles.
About 9:00 am we headed up I-5 then at Weed branched off on US 97. It's a scenic drive with some sweeping vistas and unusual sights including a large out-of-place rock escarpment called sheep rock and extensive Grass Lake high on a plateau. The highway drops down the north side of the plateau into a broad plain called Butte Valley. Just before we reached the town of Macdoel we saw our first bald eagles. They weren't soaring majestically or scanning their domain from the apex of a tall conifer. No, the three of them were perched on a wheeled irrigation rig just behind the Forest Ranger station. We saw four more bald eagles perched on irrigation rigs within the next mile and we weren't even close to the Sanctuary yet. Another ten miles and we passed through the funky little town of Dorris. A couple miles north of Dorris we turned east on 161 which straddles the California Oregon border. Heading east you're in California. Going west you drive in Oregon.
About 10 miles along 161 we reached the gravel road leading into the Sanctuary, a vast area roughly the size of San Francisco. It consists of large shallow ponds ringed by marsh vegetation. The roads criss-crossing it are elevated only a few feet above the water. Since we were at the end of the winter migration season there were only a few thousand of water fowl, not the sky-blackening million that congregate in late October and November. It's this cafeteria of fat ducks and geese that attract bald eagles from all parts of western North America. At the peak there are as many as 500 of these huge birds lurking about the edges of the ponds waiting for a tired, sick or injured water bird to appear on the menu
Since we didn't know where or how to look for Eagles we didn't see any on this first drive into the Sanctuary, but we did see many varieties of water fowl including a classy little guy called a "buffle head" duck. His dramatic black and white plumage stands out from the crowd. We also enjoyed the simple beauty of the place. Back to the south, Mount Shasta peered over the rim of the plateau we had crossed; to the north snow-capped Mount McCloughlin rose above the forested Oregon ridges. When we moved, the ducks quacked, took off, wheeled and landed; the sun reflected off their wake. We were the only two people there.
Having found no eagles we decided the best plan was to go complain to the person at the Sanctuary Headquarters that had assured us we would find some even this late in the season. The instructions for reaching the Headquarters were, "Go about 20 miles east of 97 on 161 and turn at the grocery store." We did that and in about 10 miles came to a large modern building set against a rock cliff. At the entrance a ranger peered through a telescope aimed at the escarpment. It was trained on a pair of nesting great horned owls. They are every bit as impressive as bald eagles and we enjoyed watching them watching us. We viewed a brief slide show about the Sanctuaries including photos that showed why one might want to be there in November. It looked like the kind of thing you see in movies about African wildlife. Finally we asked if there really were eagles left and a ranger marked on a map where we should be able to see some along with several thousand snow geese.
Backtracking to the area we'd come from but taking a different road into the Sanctuary we had gone only about a block before we saw three bald eagles perched in a leafless tree very near the road. We hopped out of the car and clicked camera and shot video as one eagle left the tree circled and returned. Unfortunately the sun was behind the tree so the shots are not great, but in reality the view was excellent and the sensation exciting. This was not where we were supposed to see our eagles so we drove deeper into the wetlands and finally came to the large flock of snow white snow geese on a large pond.
Click here for photo of location just described
While we were watching the snow geese, two bald eagles glided in and landed on a low, narrow spit of land behind the geese. We watched them with binoculars and other than a turn of the white head now and then they were like statues for the 15 minutes we were there. Scanning the terrain behind us we spotted three more bald eagles all on the narrow stretches of dry land. The count now was 15 -- 15 more than we'd ever seen in the wild before. The trip had been worth it.
As we drove back to 161 we scared up a pair of white herrons and saw a small flock of pelicans and two pheasants. Finally as we turned onto 161 we saw the largest flock of snow geese yet -- maybe a thousand -- and as we stopped to watch, about half of them rose off the water giving us a small hint of what it must be like when tens of thousands are there.
We left the area feeling quite satisfied with our sightings. We stopped at the Butte Valley ranger station in hopes of getting a closer look at the irrigation eagles, but they were gone. The ranger there suggested we turn right on the next road off 97 and we might see some eagles flying back to the ridge to roost for the night. About a half mile down the road we saw two large dead trees and scanned them. Sure enough there were two big beautiful red tail hawks. We stopped for great close up views with binoculars and watched them take turns soaring over the fields and returning. Then as we were watching the hawk show, it happened; a single bald eagle sailed over our heads and swooped toward the tree-covered ridge line a half mile away. It was the perfect ending to our raptor hunting day as number 16 soared off into the twilight.
