Photo Gallery: Eagle Watch 2024
Garrett Wong traveled to The Dalles from Portland this weekend in hopes of seeing and photographing some Eagles at The Dalles Dam. He was thrilled to get this shot of an eagle catching a Shad in the Columbia River. Photo Credit:Garrett Wong
By Cole Goodwin.
The Dalles, OR, January 29, 2024 – The 14th annual Eagle Watch drew over 500 people the The Dalles Dam Visitor Center on Saturday, Jan. 27. Visitors swapped their favorite bird watching stories, photographed the eagles, participated in live raptor education demonstrations, hands-on learning activities, and more.
Cole Goodwin, shows visitors how to fold an paper crane in the kid’s wing of the Visitor Center.
Photo Courtesy of USACE.
Steve and Karen Murray brought their own spotting scopes to share with the public. Steve and Karen are regular visitors to to the Visitor Center.
Photo Credit: Garrett Wong
Visitors enjoying some Eagle watching.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Park Rangers, U.S. Forest Service, Columbia Gorge Discovery Center, Perch Wildlife Education, and Rowena Wildlife Clinic all participated in making the event a success.
Alina Blankenship, Master Falconer holds North, a hybridized gyrfalcon. “She’s hybridized with a Pallid Cassini Peregrine,” said Blankship. While the history of falconry stretches back thousands of years. Breeding programs for hybridized flacons are a more recent development that has only occurred in the last hundred years. Many programs began as a result of the endangerment of Peregrine Falcons due to the use of the pesticide known as DDT.
Hybrids like the one pictured here are known to be highly intelligent, loyal and great hunters and have slightly broader wings than other Peregrine’s which allow them to have more lift in their wings.
“Perch is a 501-C3 non-profit. We do education with birds of prey. The reason we do that is because Gremlin right there. My great horned owl is a unicorn. You like unicorns, right? You don't want anything bad to happen to unicorns, right? Are you going to do some activists for unicorns? No because they're fantasy. They live in a book. I remove her from the book for people,” said Alina Blankenship, Master Falconer.
Kelly Miller, Perch Volunteer holds Gremlin the Great Horned Owl. Gremlin was bread in captivity and can’t be released because she has imprinted on humans. She doesn’t seem to mind too much however. “She’s a great ambassador for education,” said Miller. I asked her about the glove she’s wearing “We wear the glove because a Great Horned Owl is very strong,” she shared “They can break any bone in the human body except the femur.”
“What we do is we make people look up. We talk about ecology and physiology for the young ones we takl about superpowers because all my birds have superpowers,” said Blakenship.
“You’ll notice all of these birds look perfectly healthy. My birds do double duty. They work for my business. (Sky Gaurdian Falconry) We protect things from pest species of birds…most of these birds are working birds,” said Blankeship.
Blankenship tells Widigit, the feisty little Northern Saw-When Owl to behave himself, making a Forest Service employee laugh. “He’s a bully,” Blankeship laughs.
Small but mighty. Widigt is non-releasable due to lasting issues resulting from his run in with a window.
Blankeship works with Rowena Wildlife Clinic to help rehab birds.
“I’m able to take some birds per permit and work them and rehab thier bodies and get them back into fighting shape so we can release them,” said Blankeship.
Rowena Wildlife clinic talking about their work to some attendees of the event.
Rowena wildlife clinic helps injured wildlife such as this blind owl.
During January, The Dalles Dam Visitor Center will be open every Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (subject to weather.) Staff will be on-site to answer questions, help people use spotting scopes and teach basic bird identification tips. Additionally, Seufert Park, which is adjacent to the visitor center, is open daily from dawn until dusk
Photo Credit: Garrett Wong
