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A feeding bald eagle protecting it’s catch near Haines, Alaska.

Thousands of bald eagles converge on the Chilkat River, which is warmed from underground water reservoirs,  to feed on spawning salmon, in late fall and early winter, on the Chilkat Eagle Preserve near Haines, Alaska- a not to be missed photographic experience.  I spotted a lone eagle feeding on a recently caught salmon on a snow covered outcropping near shore. Eagles tend to challenge other eagles for a caught salmon, so it is instinctive for an eagle to constantly protect its catch.  While it was snowing, I climbed down to the river’s edge, through the snow and brush, to get a good, clean, isolated, view of this eagle as it fed on and, simultaneously, protected its salmon. By the time the eagle flew away there was very little left of the salmon.