Elk Refuge Sleigh Ride

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Photos, Tyler Gray, Audio, Bob Gray

There were over 3,000 Elk at the refuge when we went for our sleigh ride. There were over 8,000 Elk on the refuge the previous year because of the heavy snow. In addition to the Elk, there were at least four Bald Eagles present during our sleigh ride. Three adult Eagles and one immature Eagle were identified. More on the Eagles after the pictures of the Elk. The photographs of the Elk demonstrate how many there were on the refuge, as well as, how close we were able to come to them.

The Eagle sitting to the left in the above picture called out several times during our sleigh ride. This Eagle, which I believe was a female, was by herself when she started to call out as our sleigh pulled up under the tree. I have watched Eagles many times but had never heard one. The bird books and on-line references I have examined all say the Eagle’s call is weak and high pitched. This description doesn’t seem to fit what we heard on the Elk Refuge. The Cornell Ornithology site mentions that the female may give out a unique call when it is ready to mate. I doubt this is what we heard as the second Eagle, seen above, flew back with a fish and sat on the limb eating it. If this was a mating call, clearly the male missed the signal. The first Eagle continued making the call while the other ate the fish. So, doing what our guide Aaron would refer to as anthropomorphizing, my guess is female Eagle was the mother of the immature Eagle and she was calling to it to tell it to stop what it was doing and get busy with something important.

Video (really just audio do to my poor camera work) of the (female) Eagle, possibly calling to its immature offspring.

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