Capturing Eagles- A Glimpse into an Ecosystem

A Juvenile bald eagle feeds on a dead salmon lining the riverbank having completed its journey. The circle of life. Photo credit: Alex McCartney

My breath rose like miniature clouds as I stepped out of the car, the sun poking through in tiny rays as I headed along the path that makes up the Brackendale Eagle Run, where thousands of bald eagles come every November to nest and feed on the salmon passing through the river on their annual salmon run heading up to breed, deep in the rivers that crisscross British Colombia. But it’s not just the eagles themselves that fascinate me about this place. It’s the multitude of separate ecological systems that collide here in perfect harmony, the story of the British Columbian temperate rainforests.

Although the ‘Eagle Run,’ Brackendale is really a story of the salmon, the life-and- death cycle of the species sustaining much of the flora and fauna of the region. The several species of salmon making up the salmon run of British Columbia are part of the diets of over 137 different animals native to BC, making them the most universal food sources of predators and scavengers across the region. Epic images of grizzly bears snatching them out of shallow rapids, perhaps come foremost to mind; but the reality is that salmon are more often the targets of scavengers than active predation; being what we describe as explosive breeders, salmon often put so much energy into the birth of their young that they die shortly afterwards, lining the shores of the rivers and streams where they can be a familiar sight in late-fall. The carcasses missed by scavengers will slowly decay, releasing oceanic nutrients into the soil and fertilising the otherwise nutrient-starved, ancient forests; and these carcasses can account for over 80 percent of the nitrogen within the ecosystem.

It's inarguable that salmon are cornerstones of the regeneration and fertilisation of this region; but the environment shapes them as they shape it. Picky breeders, salmon runs will only occur in the cleanest rivers, and the unique geography and geology of the Pacific coast make it an ideal host for such events. Huge glaciers feeding many of the streams contain vast densities of nutrients picked up through the glacial erosion of the bedrock, and plunging waterfalls help oxygenate this water further. Put together, it makes for a truly unique story, through the alignment of so many different elements.

All this ran through my head as I walked towards the river for the third time this year. It was becoming a daily pilgrimage, as it had already been a yearly pilgrimage. Capturing the contrast between the young eagle and the dead or dying salmon had become something of an obsession for me. The cyclical nature of life, the bedrock of ecology, seems to linger in the air with the screech of the eagles and reek of dead salmon lining the shore. As I slowly walked along the shoreline, I spotted a juvenile bald eagle feasting on a salmon carcass just opposite me. I carefully positioned myself at eye level and began to snap away as the golden glow of dawn spread across the water. It felt like a satisfactory result for all involved. The eagle got its meal, the salmon had laid its eggs- ensuring the continuation of the salmon run; and I had finally got my photo.

Written by Alex McCartney

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