What a day to be out on the road! We were on our way to Victoria and I had high hopes that we would see a few eagles on the way. Little did I know I was in for a treat! Between Sorrento and a ways past Chase on the TransCanada Highway they were hanging out in trees and on stumps EVERYWHERE!
I stopped counting at 57 but there were at least 20-25 more. Counting takes my attention away from finding a place that is safe to pull over to hop out and get more pics. Brian is quite patient with me.
Eagles are generally not very social birds but they do group up at times for protection or feeding and when they do, they are called a convocation, a soar, an aerie, a spread or a flock. They gather along this portion of the highway because it is close to a great source of food – salmon! The ones in the Sorrento to Chase area are fishing in the Shuswap and beyond Chase they are on the Thompson River.
The first image is probably a small family group and more properly called an Aerie. This is really more of an interpretation of the term on my part – but I have read a book or two (thanks for the books Luke!). When they are in a group and on the move is when I believe the term Soar is used. This large convocation was just hanging out watching the world go by and waiting for unsuspecting fish just trying to make their way up river to spawn.
The 2nd and 3rd images are of a full grown adult and the fourth and fifth are of juveniles which look to be in different stages of maturity. I have yet to get back to where the Thompson and Fraser Rivers meet where the eagles gather in November for feeding. I was there a couple of years ago if you want to check out those pics. Here is a link to the post from Day 1 (there are three in total and are all linked) https://azuretravels.com/2021/11/25/bucket-list-eagle-gathering-check/