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Eagles have landed in Whistler

Raptor specialist offers glimpse into eagles' lives

By Clare Ogilvie

Tutshi looks every part the king of birds as his crooked claws clasp his perch and he surveys the land.

At any minute the six-year-old bald eagle should spread his wings and take to the skies.

But Tutshi will never soar again after crashing into power lines and breaking his wing. Six operations later, his wing held together with steel pins, he is able to get around but Daniel Johnson hopes this eagle, though crippled, will help him illustrate the perilous life birds of prey face as human and raptor struggle to survive in the same environment.

“The atmosphere for eagles is better than it ever has been,” said Johnson, one of a handful of raptor specialists allowed by the B.C. government to raise, hunt with, and rehabilitate birds of prey.

“But also it is worse than it has ever been because there are too many of us and not enough acres. There are more and more boats, more and more jet skis, more RVs going to the wilderness, more and more curious people, more and more snow machines, more and more heli-skiing, and more and more rock climbing.”

Johnson, who has been working with raptors for 30 years, and Sam White have come to the Edgewater Outdoor Centre in Whistler to offer an interpretive talk on their understanding of birds of prey after learning, watching and living with them in the wilderness of northern B.C. and the Yukon.

Johnson and White will both live in a teepee, often home to the raptors as well, while in Whistler. Near the tip of the teepee, which will be used to give presentations to the public, small red footprints can be seen making a path all the way around the fabric, a little gift from Johnson’s toddler daughter Danyka.

The move to the resort was partly motivated by the success Johnson had this past summer running educational shows for cruise chip tourists out of Skagway.

“I think the average age of my visitors was 62,” said Johnson as he gently moves the inside tarping of the authentic teepee where guests will warm themselves, listen to a power point presentation, and view historic articles telling of the long history of the regal bald eagle.

“Most people are totally in shock when they have done the tour because they didn’t realize that it was so harsh out there for avian predators.”

He tells of the fight for survival in the nest where it is not uncommon for the first-born chick, often a few days older than the second, to kill its sibling in rivalry. Only one out of seven bald eagles makes it to maturity and even though eagles can see a fish below the water from several hundred feet U.S. research has found that only about one out of every 18 attacks are successful. And in many cases older, wiser raptors steal the catch of less experienced birds.

Along with Tutshi, visitors will meet Princess, now in training to be released near Brackendale in the coming weeks, and Tagish whose future is still uncertain.

Johnson, who has been fascinated with fowl since childhood, estimates he has rehabilitated around 50 birds. Most are brought to him starving or injured and he coaxes them back from the brink.

“TV shows you that they are invincible, that they can do anything,” said Johnson of the national bird of the United States. “But we consistently see older birds that are in a broken condition who need a little help and then they are off again. But if you don’t give them that help they would never make it.”

Some have argued that it is interfering with the natural cycle to save the birds, which can live up to 35 years in the wild and mate for life. But Johnson points out that a significant number of the birds he sees are hit by cars while feeding on road kill, downed by power lines or wind generators or have run into another human-related mishaps.

“They are never pets,” he said. “You always know that when you get a bird you are just there to help it.”

Johnson believes there is a hunger for knowledge about raptors and a passion for the birds he understands all too easily.

He saw it in Mount Currie where First Nations members offered him a safe haven when he first arrived in the valley.

“That was a wonderful experience,” said Johnson.

“I have had birds all my life, they are thrilling and fascinating… and I know that when people leave our tours they never look at a bird the same way.”

For more information on Wild Eagle Experience at the Edgewater Outdoor Centre call 604-932-3389 or go to Whistler Outdoor Experience Company at www.whistleroutdoor.com .