At Last: My Quest to See the Spectacular Steller's Sea-Eagle
By Lillian Stokes
I waited over five years to see the Steller’s Sea-Eagle after it showed up in Taunton, Massachusetts, in December 2021. Only about 200 lucky birders got to see it before it migrated north after being there for just a few hours. I was not one of them.
Fast-forward through my life. My husband, Don, died last year after a long illness. When I remarried in May, the number one question I was asked was, “Where are you going on your honeymoon?” Where do you think? To see the Steller’s Sea-Eagle!!!
The Steller’s Sea-Eagle has been called by some “the bird of the century.” By now, it is a legend. This massive bird has a 7- to 8-foot wingspan and, at about five pounds heavier, a foot taller, and longer overall, it dwarfs Bald Eagles. It normally lives in eastern Russia, the Korean Peninsula, and northern Japan. With only about 4,000 left in the wild, it is considered a vulnerable species.
This Steller’s Sea-Eagle took off on an astounding cross-continent journey with the seeming ease of a weather satellite circling the globe, with stops that included Alaska, Texas, Quebec, Massachusetts, and Maine. It settled in Newfoundland for the last several years, in Trinity Bay at Green’s Harbor Point, then at Salmon Point, Whiteway, accessible only by boat.
With no guarantees that we would find it, since its track record is to move around, my new husband, Tony, and I set off in July. The trip was not easy; there are no direct flights. We made a very tight connection in Montreal on our way to St. John’s, the capital of Newfoundland. There, we engaged a local tour operator, Robert Burgess, to guide us.
Getting to the eagle is all about the wind! Newfoundland is a VERY windy place! Robert only goes out in his small boat when he thinks conditions are safe. The weather changed constantly, producing plenty of weather anxiety on my part. Robert messaged me about a potential three-day window of opportunity for good seas. Finally, he said early Sunday morning looked best.
We had dinner Saturday night and still had a few hours of daylight, so over-eager me talked Tony into going to a spot of land on Old Track Road, 1.7 miles across the bay from Salmon Point. There, I got out our Swarovski AT Balance image-stabilized handheld scope and started scanning. My eye caught a very, very distant object in the conifers on the cliff that had two white wing patches and a big yellow blob—her bill!—that moved from left to right and back again. OMG, I had spotted the Steller’s Sea-Eagle!!!!
I was so excited that I contacted Robert and told him we were looking at the eagle and that the seas looked deceptively calm to us. He said, “Come over,” and obligingly took us out in what turned out to be much rougher seas for a “record shot.” Yes, the boat ride was rocky, but we got close enough for some photos of her perched high in a conifer. Thank goodness for autofocus!
Robert said the next morning would be much better for photos, and it was, although it was cloudy. Robert, who is a photographer himself, did an excellent job of getting us into good positions to take photos while being respectful about keeping roughly 100 feet away from the high cliff, one of the eagle’s frequent perching spots. I used a Canon R5 Mark II with a 100–500 mm lens, while Tony used the Nikon P1100 with its 3000 mm lens.
We left totally elated. My dream had come true. There is no feeling like that!!
Make no mistake, the Steller’s Sea-Eagle is a savvy, skilled survivor far from her native land, although it is interesting that Newfoundland is at roughly the same latitude as her home range. She—some people think it is a female—has skirmishes with the many Bald Eagles, sometimes hangs out with juvenile Bald Eagles, and may learn from gulls that lead her to fish. Newfoundland has plenty of food, places to perch, and shelter, and she is making a good living. And no, there is no plan to import a mate.
We also had some other great birding experiences. Newfoundland is full of them, including seeing millions of nesting seabirds such as Northern Gannets, Atlantic Puffins, murres, and Black-legged Kittiwakes. Update: As of September 25th, the Steller’s Sea-Eagle is now being seen at Green’s Harbor Point. About the Author
Lillian Stokes and her late husband Donald are widely recognized as America’s foremost authorities on birds and nature. Their books include the bestselling Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America, the Stokes Field Guide to Birds, the Stokes Beginner’s Guide to Birds, the Stokes Nature Guides, and the Stokes Backyard Nature Books. Lillian lives in Concord, MA, and is a frequent co-leader, with Peter Alden, for the Spark Birding field trips.
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