You are both welcome to come up here to photograph. The best time for the Eagles are from Mid Feb to mid March. That is the time when the sun and wind is right for the classic Eagle flying shot with the Blue Sky background and Jeanne is still feeding the Eagles. For the Northern Lights, spend a week in Fairbanks anytime in the Winter. WARNING!! Fairbanks in the winter can be -55F. For my cameras, I am building an external power supply using an 8 volt gel cell battery with a 5AH rating. It should give me about 8 - 10 shooting hours at the sub zero temps.

If anybody wants to come up here to photograph the Eagles, make your plans because Jeanne may stop feeding the Eagles any year now and by law she has to stop feeding them in 2010. This photo op will only exist for 2 more years.

David, I am also jealous of being able to photograph eagles with such a close lens, however, as winter gets along in the lower Hudson valley and Delaware Valley the population increases and opportunitities are on the rise. Yet nothing like what you have in Alaska. You do with what you have at the time is my mantra. Oh and the temps were in the 40's not -40's. Don

I agree, you shoot with what you have. Most of my Eagle shots are done with my 300mm or my 80-200mm if I want to get a single Eagle (hard to do at the Homer Spit). This year I am going to take a wide angle photo with about 100 Eagles on the beach.

Last week the temps here were in the 30-40F but this week they are in the 20F. I live in Soldotna, not Fairbanks (500 miles to the north). Fairbanks is where it gets cold.

These two eagles were hanging out beneath an eastern facing 200' cliff at dusk across the river. Not ideal by any stretch of the imagination. I'm originally from the Adirondack Mtn's, so we are not strangers to COLD! temperatures, -40 is not unheard of in the Adirondacks. I have several friends in the USCG who are from Alaska. Definitely one of those places I have to visit. Its also the only place with an AFB named after our family. Don

I grew up in Ohio where I have seen it get to -20F, when I came to Alaska, I never went back to Ohio. The winter weather here in Soldotna is about the same as Ohio, just a couple of months longer.

Hi David, I just had a look at your website. Some nice shots of my old haunts ! I spent 25years in Alaska... now refined to the less civilized Bay Area of California. I miss home. :-(

I left Alaska for 5 years and I will never do that again.

I hear ya.......... during my 25 years I left for about year or year or so couple different times. Always came back.......... plan to again in fact but likely not full time for personal reasons. Alaska will always be home to me though.

This is my eagle shot from last month.

As seen at the St. John's River in Florida