Keeping an Eagle Eye on Nature

Winter is the peak season for spotting bald eagles by the hundreds in Canada and Alaska, with tour operators offering an up-close look at America’s national symbol.

The draw for the eagles is hordes of salmon, which annually race upstream, spawn and then die, providing a feast for the scavenger birds. Although bald eagles can be found in the Lower 48, Alaska and British Columbia are renowned for their huge visiting flocks. In January 1994, 3,769 bald eagles were recorded in a single day during the annual count in the Squamish River area, about an hour north of Vancouver.

The Canadian Outback Adventure Co. is typical of tour operators on the Squamish. For about $75 per person, you can ride--and, often, help paddle--a nine-person raft along the river, which skirts the Bains Island Ecological Preserve.

The price includes lunch after the trip, which lasts about 1 1/2 to three hours, depending on how fast the river is running, a spokesman said. In the last few weeks about 100 to 200 birds have been spotted per trip, he said; numbers usually peak in late December to early January. Reservations: tel. (800) 565-8735.

Other area boat operators include Sunwolf Outdoor Center, (604) 898-1537, and River Quest, (604) 898-4633.

In Alaska’s Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, about 90 miles north of Juneau near Haines, the viewing season is October through December, local officials said. Although rivers now are mostly frozen over, the preserve can be toured by car. For information, call the Haines State Parks office, (907) 766-2292 or the Haines Convention & Visitors Bureau, (907) 766-2234.