EAGLE WATCH
the Film
The Story
Each winter Bald Eagles come to the Columbia River Gorge to roost and hunt. Most years visitors to the gorge are taken on hikes to view these majestic birds in their routines and habitat, but like many things, COVID-19 had a different plan. Friends of the Columbia Gorge reached out to us to see if we could help produce a film that would bring this unique experience to people. We agreed without pause, and before you could blink, Sean was packing his camera and 600mm (1200 with a 2x magnifier) lens and heading out for chilly February mornings on the Lyle spit. He was also granted escorted access to The Dalles Dam by The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, another partner on the project. With this commitment and exclusive access, we were able to put together a short film that moved viewers and served to anchor the Eagle Watch 2021 Virtual Event put on by the project partners.
the Press
* Cover of Friends of the Columbia Gorge Spring '21 Newsletter
*Excerpt from Friends of the Columbia Gorge 2021 Annual Report
Story Origin
The call came in at the last minute. The Eagles were making their way back to the Columbia River Gorge and our long-time collaborators, The Friends of the Columbia Gorge and a group of partners were finding solutions on ways they could continue to host the annual Eagle Watch event without being able to provide the in person tours due to Covid. The ask was simple, "Since we can't bring the people to the Eagles, can you bring the Eagles to the people?"
The answer of course was "Yes!" and we were off to some chilly mornings in some beautiful places. We learned a ton about these majestic creatures during this assignment and we hope you can learn from the film as well!