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Next stop was the inlet where Big Beef Creek flows into Hood Canal. The tide was still high and the eagles were perched in the trees surrounding the mud flats on the inland side of the bridge over the creek.
A juvie was buzzing an adult down on the mud flats by the creek.
The juvie caught a fish and perched on a telephone pole by the road to eat it.
I was able to get directly under the pole to photograph the juvie while it ate the fish, where I was in danger of getting splattered by flying fish guts.
The tide receded and exposed the large oyster beds on the Hood Canal side of the bridge. More eagles arrived to hunt for fish trapped in the oyster beds during some of the lowest tides of the year.
A juvie buzzed some herons, I believe to steal a fish from them. The behavior of these herons was very different compared to those of the Edmonds marsh. The herons at the Edmonds marsh are very wary of eagles and will fly up en masse at the first sight of an approaching eagle. The herons at Seabeck were not intimidated by the eagles and held their ground when buzzed.
These shots were taken from the roadway above the bay.
Six or seven of us with big lenses walked down from the road out onto the tidal flat to get ground level shots of the eagles. Here are a few of the many I took.
This particular sub adult, recognizable by the black outlines of its white tail feathers, loved to hassle other birds. We decided it had an attitude problem or hormonal issues associated with puberty.
The evil minions of the Dark Lord are present at Seabeck and out to steal a piece of an eagle's meal.
After the tide went out, the eagles settled down and the photographers pulled out. Before we left I took some panoramic shots from the road to give everyone an idea of the area.
The "rocks" you see are oysters....... thousands and thousands of oysters.
Recommendations: The rest of June will see some of the lowest tides of the year in Puget Sound. It will be a good time to go to Seabeck to photograph the eagles and herons out in the flats. Check the tide tables and ferry schedules so you can arrive at the morning high tide. Based upon what Terry saw both times he was there, the tide rushes out quite quickly and the eagle action is heaviest as soon as the flats are exposed. Eagles can only consume so many fish and the action drops off quickly after they have eaten their fill.
