Fishing with Sea Eagles.

Adult & Juvenile White Bellied Sea Eagles

There are 3 main White Bellied Sea Eagles that hang around James Price Point.  I’m now very confident they are the same birds we were photographing at the other end of the beach, when we camped at Flat Rock, and I’m sure they recognise us, and the dogs!

After fishing we throw the filleted fish carcasses onto the beach in front of our camp.  I have got some amazing photos of all the eagles flying in and swooping onto the beach to pick them up.

Adult Sea Eagle getting ready to take fish carcass off beach in front of out camp at JPP

Young Sea Eagle coming in to pick up fish carcass off the beach

I don’t think they actually ‘follow’ us down the beach when fishing.  I’m sure they circle us when flying past to see if we have ‘dropped’ anything.  They have branches onto top of the cliffs, all along the beach, where they obviously sit and watch the ocean regularly.  It’s just that we have taken to walking this stretch of the beach and stopping under these perches.  Clearly they know the good fishing spots, because these are the area’s we have been catching the most fish.

This day of the YouTube clip below, we came across and ended up unintentionally feeding all 3 of the regular White Bellies.

First up we came across the smaller much more timid adult eagle.  He is way more wary of us and the dogs, hanging back when the other eagles are swooping the beach for our fish carcasses.  We knew it was him, because he was hesitant to take the Long Tom (long skinny fish) that we left on the beach for it.  Even when we called the dogs down the beach,(by pretending we had a fish on, that turned into a fish on!!) it still sat back and watched until we were further down the beach.

A little while later the other adult eagle started circling us while I was playing the Herring I caught.  The slippery slimy skinny fish are strong fighters and rather hard to handle.  The poor thing was not in very good health when I tried to release it.  Later it was washed up with the waves, while I didn’t have the GoPro on, and the adult eagle grabbed it straight away.

Then ‘BSE’ Baby Sea Eagle turned up and started circling us.  I’m sure word had gotten out, and even thought that one Herring would have feed the whole family, clearly BSE was sent to get his own breakfast.  It was totally unintentional that he did too!  We were joking that she (it’s HUGE, hence why I call it ‘she’, the females are bigger then the male eagles), would have to wait until we got home to fillet our fish before she got her breakfast.  We always keep a couple of small Trevalley for the dogs breakfast.  But she had other idea’s about this plan.  Puppy had a Trevalley on the beach, he doesn’t eat them whole, more like ‘guards’ them, only he didn’t do a very good job of it this day!!  Actually I’m a little worried that the BSE was going to try and take the fish OFF Pup!!!  Luckily at this very moment Johnno hooked another fish, so Pup run down the beach towards the live fish, leaving his dead fish unattended for the easy taking.  Charlie had seen the whole thing unfolding, and was onto BSE straight away, but thankfully far enough away not to get in the way.

BSE is getting very close.  It first started when we were camped at Flat Rock, as you can see at the end of this clip:Sunday Fun-day  when he takes the fish off the beach from the dogs.
Just last week I’d thrown the carcass too close to a rock, BSE tried a couple of times to get it, but couldn’t swoop past the rock.  I walked down the beach, watching her sitting on the rock close by, envisioning the great photos I was going to get.  I picked up the carcass, threw it back onto the beach, I was walking away from it, to get the sun behind me, when BSE swooped right beside me it get the carcass.  I could have almost reached out and touched her, that’s how close she came to me!!  Very moving stuff…but NO photos that time!

There are also two resident Brahminy Kite’s, but they are too small to pick up the carcasses, so simply feed on the beach in front of us, totally beautiful!

Young Sea Eagle did regular fly overs.