Tracy Arm and South Sawyer Glacier
The first morning of our trip dawned gray and, some say, just a bit drizzly. Butthe rain was not as persistent as yesterday's and we soon forgot to notice whether it was there or wasn't. There were, after all, other things to see during several hours of Zodiac tours after breakfast: Like the stunningly blue icebergs floating in aquamarine water, or the equally stunningly blue glacier face looming nearby, the obvious origin of the bergs themselves. And there were harbor seals hauled out for a rest, arctic terns flying to and from their nests and the numerous waterfalls that glistened and sprayed against the dark, towering granitic cliffs. It was a scene of vast scale, one in which one might easily hide and hope to remain unnoticed by virtue of stillness and cryptic coloring.
But the choreographed flight of a lone herring gull drew our attention to that point in its dance where it approached the cliff face and then suddenly veered away, overand over again. The picture shows the gull in the upper left corner and you mightnotice its wide open beak indicates it is also vocalizing, rather stridently it seemed tosome of us who were there. Can you see the object of its insults in the lower right cornerof the photo? Don't feel bad if it doesn't jump out at you. Immature bald eagles depend on their over-all brown, cryptic coloring to help them go unnoticed where theymight not be welcome. Not only herring gulls but other eagles may object to their presence, especially during mating season. The jig was up for this hapless eagle youngster. Eventually the eagle decided it was all too much, being the object of derision (of a gull, for goodness sakes!), plus now there were people in Zodiacs watching the whole spectacle.
In fact many of us had been wondering why the eagle hadn't simply left sooner than it did. When it finally took flight the answer became clear. In a flash the number of herring gulls mobbing the eagle went from one to five and their intensity of vocalizations escalated like a siren. The poor bird barely had time to fly two hundred yards before it was grounded again amongst the alder and arnica of the cliff environment. However embarrassing or frustrating it may have been for this immature eagle, it was thrilling for us to witness this small drama played out on the grand stage of Tracy Arm in Southeast Alaska.
The first morning of our trip dawned gray and, some say, just a bit drizzly. Butthe rain was not as persistent as yesterday's and we soon forgot to notice whether it was there or wasn't. There were, after all, other things to see during several hours of Zodiac tours after breakfast: Like the stunningly blue icebergs floating in aquamarine water, or the equally stunningly blue glacier face looming nearby, the obvious origin of the bergs themselves. And there were harbor seals hauled out for a rest, arctic terns flying to and from their nests and the numerous waterfalls that glistened and sprayed against the dark, towering granitic cliffs. It was a scene of vast scale, one in which one might easily hide and hope to remain unnoticed by virtue of stillness and cryptic coloring.
But the choreographed flight of a lone herring gull drew our attention to that point in its dance where it approached the cliff face and then suddenly veered away, overand over again. The picture shows the gull in the upper left corner and you mightnotice its wide open beak indicates it is also vocalizing, rather stridently it seemed tosome of us who were there. Can you see the object of its insults in the lower right cornerof the photo? Don't feel bad if it doesn't jump out at you. Immature bald eagles depend on their over-all brown, cryptic coloring to help them go unnoticed where theymight not be welcome. Not only herring gulls but other eagles may object to their presence, especially during mating season. The jig was up for this hapless eagle youngster. Eventually the eagle decided it was all too much, being the object of derision (of a gull, for goodness sakes!), plus now there were people in Zodiacs watching the whole spectacle.
In fact many of us had been wondering why the eagle hadn't simply left sooner than it did. When it finally took flight the answer became clear. In a flash the number of herring gulls mobbing the eagle went from one to five and their intensity of vocalizations escalated like a siren. The poor bird barely had time to fly two hundred yards before it was grounded again amongst the alder and arnica of the cliff environment. However embarrassing or frustrating it may have been for this immature eagle, it was thrilling for us to witness this small drama played out on the grand stage of Tracy Arm in Southeast Alaska.
