Homer Bald Eagles, Sea Otters, Kittiwake Rookery

Homer is the best place in the world to see kittiwake rookeries, sea otters, and bald eagles. Bald eagles are everywhere, easy to approach, easy to photograph. Take a boat tour on Kachemak Bay to see lots of different birds and perhaps the sea otter nursery. Fishing, bear-watching flights, and hiking are all available, too.

A beautifully manicured garden adorns the scenic view pullout area just at the top of the hill approaching Homer.

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A beautifully manicured garden adorns the scenic view pullout area just at the top of the hill approaching Homer.

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Lupines begin to bloom on a hill just outside of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on the outskirts of Homer. There are lots of worthwhile exhibits inside and a few easy trails outside.

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A sea kayaker decides to brave the cold weather and wind.

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A pair of American Wigeons floats in a small marsh outside of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge headquarters.

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Homer advertises itself as the Halibut Capital of the World. But its also the Bald Eagle Capital of the World. These birds are extremely easy to spot, approach, and photograph. At least here in Homer where a single woman feeds them fish carcasses over the long winters.

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Homer advertises itself as the Halibut Capital of the World. But its also the Bald Eagle Capital of the World. These birds are extremely easy to spot, approach, and photograph. At least here in Homer where a single woman feeds them fish carcasses over the long winters.\n\nHere an eagle flies right over my head.

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Wow, I love this shot of a bald eagle landing right in front of me, probably only 10 feet in the air. It was easy to get, too, like all bald eagle shots in Homer, Alaska. Actually I was standing in the theater parking lot shooting a different eagle when this one swooped in. The gusty breeze slowed his landing almost to a hover, through which I was able to get several different shots. His wings are spread just perfectly and his look is very solemn.

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Same bald eagle as the previous picture, but his landing is obviously complete.

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The roofs of the houses just beyond our campground boundaries appear to be a popular resting spot for bald eagles.

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Same eagle as the previous picture takes flight eventually crossing right in front of our RV. What a treat!

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Same bald eagle as the previous picture. He is perched on top of a limbless tree in the yard of the Eagle Lady, which was right next to our RV slot. After he landed here I was able to slowly and quite easily approach him, and he didn't care one bit.

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Same bald eagle as the previous picture. He decided to fly away and then changed his mind. The gusty breeze allowed him to hover above his perch for several seconds, allowing me to fire off many different shots. By now a few other campers have joined me to take photographs.

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Same bald eagle as the previous picture. He finally flies away for good. What a treat to be able to approach and quietly observe such a large, majestic bird!

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Sign outside of the Eagle Lady's small house, which sits kind of in the middle of the campground.

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The Eagle Lady's small house is decorated quite festively. A sign on the gate invites you to knock if you are interested in purchasing a self-made video tape of her endeavors.\n\nThrough the center of the picture just to the right of the house you can see the limbless tree on which the bald eagle in previous photographs perched and posed. Only for this picture there seems to be a crow on it.

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We parked our RV right next to the Eagle Lady's house.

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We spent some time before dinner calling on some of the boat tours for a wildlife cruise the next day. We settled on Captain Karl's Bay Excursions tours because he had a birdwatching cruise going out the next day at 8:00a. We're glad we chose him - nice, small boat and very friendly.\n\nHere we are motoring out of the harbor to notice that kittiwakes have set up shop in the sea platforms.

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Well, we were hoping to find some sea otters, especially since we heard there was an otter nursery offshore. But we didn't expect to see over 100 all lined up at once! As our boat approached they all took turns ducking under the water. Otters were everywhere on our tour, but we didn't dwell on them too much since we were on a birding cruise.

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Getting close to a sea otter wasn't too hard, especially since there were so many of them.

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Sea otters are so cute you just wish you could reach in, pick one up, and give him a big hug.

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My 3 1/2 year old daughter became interested in cameras on this trip. So I thought she could try a shot or two with the big lens. This time she didn't capture anything worthwhile.

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Marbled murrelets are a fairly common site in the waters off Alaska.

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Here we approach some kittiwakes resting on a small rocky island.

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Yet another kittiwake rookery. Thousands of these birds flock to the same areas to mate. They nest against cliff walls for "protection." The younger, less experienced birds build their nests near the water where they are easily wiped out by the first storm waters.

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Pairs of kittiwakes nesting on a cliff face.

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A kittiwake flies over our tour boat.

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Thousands of kittiwakes flock to the same rocky areas to mate. They nest against cliff walls for "protection." The younger, less experienced birds build their nests near the water where they are easily wiped out by the first storm waters. The rocks are completely painted with excrement and the din is loud and cheerful. All of the birds are quite busy building nests or finding food.

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I think these are glaucous-winged gulls because the tail area is the same color gray as the backs. But they have red legs and feet, so if you know they are something different, please email me.\n\nWhen I was trying to look up what kind of gull these were I was amazed at how many species had a red spot on their bottom bill and white circles on their tail.

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More kittiwakes flying at the edge of a small rocky island.

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This kittiwake found some nesting material.

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I though it was a treat to see oystercatchers hanging out next to the harlequin ducks.

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The harlequin ducks got a little spooked by our boat's silent advance. Interestingly, a woman on our boat said that it was seeing this particular species for the first time that inspired her to go into biology.

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Closeup of this brilliant pair of black oystercatchers. I love their eyes.

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Fascinating rock formation on one of the islands in Kacehmak Bay off the coast of Homer.

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A sea otter allows us to approach quite close. Even though I had taken a ton of sea otter pictures in Seward, I took a ton more here in Kachemak Bay. You never know when you're going to get a better picture.

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A few double-crested cormorants rest on a tiny island. That one bird is not readying to fly, he's drying his wings.

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A double-crested cormorant takes flight close to our boat.

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A small island in Kachemak Bay is infested with kittiwakes.

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I thought this tiny island almost exclusively populated with cormorants was kind of a funny picture.

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It was a real treat seeing a baby sea otter pup with its mother. Occasionally mom would leave the pup to float by itself while she dove for food. Sea otters spend their entire lives in the water - they never come on shore.

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Thousands of kittiwakes flock to the same rocky areas to mate. They nest against cliff walls for "protection." The younger, less experienced birds build their nests near the water where they are easily wiped out by the first storm waters. The rocks are completely painted with excrement and the din is loud and cheerful. All of the birds are quite busy building nests or finding food.

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Thousands of kittiwakes flock to the same rocky areas to mate. They nest against cliff walls for "protection." The younger, less experienced birds build their nests near the water where they are easily wiped out by the first storm waters. The rocks are completely painted with excrement and the din is loud and cheerful. All of the birds are quite busy building nests or finding food.

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Kittiwakes rest on a tiny island.

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Pretty neat to see some red-faced cormorants embedded with the kittiwakes.

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There are probably 150 kittiwakes in just this picture alone. I was surprised at the occasional high density they achieved in the air.

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A pair of kittiwakes enjoy their new nest.

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Not sure if this kittiwake is arguing or saying hello.

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On Gull Island we spotted some murres mixing with the kittiwakes.

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On Gull Island we spotted some murres mixing with the kittiwakes.

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Occiasionally we saw a tufted puffin.

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A pair of pelagic cormorants appear mutually interested in something over to the left.

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I think this is a pelagic cormorant since it was very close to the other pelagic cormorants. I was surprised at how many different cormorants we saw on this tour. I didn't even know so many cormorant species existed.

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Kittiwakes hanging out on Gull Island. Notice you don't see any nests. Not a protected enough area I guess.

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A red-faced cormorant hangs out with some other cormorants that I can't identify. I was surprised at how many different cormorants we saw on this tour. I didn't even know so many cormorant species existed.

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A neat arch in the rock at Gull Island makes for a great backdrop to the kittiwake activity.

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Thousands of kittiwakes flock to the same rocky areas to mate. They nest against cliff walls for "protection." The younger, less experienced birds build their nests near the water where they are easily wiped out by the first storm waters. The rocks are completely painted with excrement and the din is loud and cheerful. All of the birds are quite busy building nests or finding food.

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I can't tell if these 2 kittiwakes are arguing, talking, or displaying affection.

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Kittiwakes really are sweet looking birds.

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Thousands of kittiwakes flock to the same rocky areas to mate. They nest against cliff walls for "protection." The younger, less experienced birds build their nests near the water where they are easily wiped out by the first storm waters. The rocks are completely painted with excrement and the din is loud and cheerful. All of the birds are quite busy building nests or finding food.

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Thousands of kittiwakes flock to the same rocky areas to mate. They nest against cliff walls for "protection." The younger, less experienced birds build their nests near the water where they are easily wiped out by the first storm waters. The rocks are completely painted with excrement and the din is loud and cheerful. All of the birds are quite busy building nests or finding food.\n\nHere you might notice an immature bald eagle perched on top of Gull Island. Whenever the eagle even moved, the kittiwakes errupted into a frenzy.

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Murres gather in the water to fish.

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I was surprised by the number of murres, and by how they congregated in the water. I also like that one murre on the left coming in for a landing.

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Fishing vessels are waiting for the right time to set sail. There are plenty of fishing charters available in Homer if you want to try your hand in the Halibut Fishing Capital of the World.

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