Michael and I recently took a two-week cruise to Alaska. It was an amazing journey and one I hope to share many more photos of in the near future. Unfortunately, my zealousness for the landscape resulted in over 1400 images (not including what I took with my phone), so I now have the daunting task of down selecting and editing them. Fingers crossed I can accomplish before the holidays begin!

In the meantime, I did want to share one of our highlights which was seeing a bald eagle. We had stopped in Haines, Alaska for the day, and we spotted this beauty sitting high up in a tree, just hanging out. It was almost as if he was putting on a show for the tourists. Believe me when I say, EVERYONE who walked down the street stopped to take photos of him (or her).

Off to the right were two (2) juvenile bald eagles. One of them was obviously a little bashful because he was hiding behind the branches above him.

Here in the U.S. the Bald Eagle is our national emblem and has been since 1782. At that point in time it is estimated the population may have reached 100,000 pairs. Sadly, by 1963 only 417 breeding pairs were known to be in existence. Direct causes include habitat loss, widespread killing and widespread chemical destruction (DDT).

Fortunately, the U.S. Congress passed the Bald Eagle Protection Act in 1940, which prohibited the killing and commercialization of the species, and a 1962 amendment extended those protections to the golden eagle as well. Thankfully, a federal ban on DDT and the Endangered Species Act also provided the necessary help to keep the Bald Eagle from extension.

If you’d like to learn more about the Bald Eagle, be sure to pop on over to the Audubon website for some interesting “fun facts” about these beautiful birds.

Until next time,

~donna