Bald Eagles of Kachemak Bay
I had the privilege of visiting Alaska to photograph one of North Americas most iconic birds. A bird many photographers (myself included) go years trying to capture, only to settle for less than ideal looks. I am of course, talking about the Bald Eagle.
I’ve long yearned to photograph this fierce looking bird of prey in an up close and meaningful way. Living in the Northeastern U.S., I’ve seen my fair share of eagles soaring over head. I’ve had a pair rest atop my neighbors norway pine one winter morning and even have a nest currently being built just five minutes away from my house. One of the most famous locations to view and photograph these birds, Conowingo Dam, is just a few hours drive away, and still, I’ve never taken an image of this species that did the bird justice. In fact, I’ve seen a shot locally that really pushed me to get out there and try. There’s just sometihng about these birds that demands they be in the mountains among the conifers.
Typically, eagles in my area are quite skittish anyway. Unless you’re sitting within their desired flight path, they tend to avoid humans at all cost. Whether perched or on a kill, any little sound or bit of movement is enough to send them well on their way. As a result, I have plenty of “fish that got away” eagle stories to justify its own blog post. Maybe I’ll write those one day. With that said, it’s probably easy to understand why one would choose to plan a trip all the way across the country to photograph the bald eagle. A places like Conowingo just doesn’t provide consistent opportunities to get good shots. Great fishing shots are possible and I’ve seen some from more local haunts, but to capture these moments, you need to have plenty of time and a bit of luck.
Jump forward to December of 2025. That nest I mentioned sits just off a large reservoir that house at least a pair or two of eagles year round. In winter, it’s not unusual to see a few dozen flying overhead or sitting out on the ice. This year, something different happened. The birds congregated in narrow cove where a brook fed into the larger body of water. Across this cove sits a two land bridge, connecting a peninsula to the rest of town. Why is this significant, you may ask? Well, it’s a good vantage point to view the birds from, but it also was one of the few portions of the reservoir that remained deep enough to house a large school of fish as the region faces what feels like years of drought.
One snowy morning saw nearly two dozen eagles flying over the bridge, taking swipes at unsuspecting fish below. More often, they’d chase gulls who had already done the hard work and spook them into dropping their quarry. Typical bald eagle behavior. I managed to get a few notable images of the birds soaring through the falling snow before being forced to leave for incoming plows. The experience was exhilarating, but paled in comparison to what was to come just a month and a half later. Little did I know at the time that this would be my only opportunity to photograph bald eagles up close and in the falling snow.
Now we come to the end of January in 2026, and I was prepping for my journey to the great white north. Or so I thought. I would be going north, but the weather would not cooperate as expected. You see, home in New Jersey we saw over a foot of snow and sub-zero windchills that followed for weeks. A far cry from the relative heat wave I wave about to experience in what should be the coldest state in the country. By this point, everything had frozen over, and my local eagle shad moved on, likely to the Hudson River and other select spots where the water never fully freezes. Meanwhile, Alaska was seeing temperatures in the mid to high 30s with little to no snow cover in the coastal regions.
I landed and immediately felt the need to shed some layers. It wasn’t more than an hour before I saw my first eagle. It was perched on a rock just feet away from the road leaving Anchorage. As the drive went on, more and more eagles appeared until the destination was reached. From there, it was open season. Below, I’ve shared a number of my favorite images taken on my trip to Alaska. From standard portraits and flight shots, to more engaging environmental portraits as well as high and low-key images. There’s even a moose and some otters for the mammal fans out there.
