Photographer visits Eagle Lady in Alaska
By ROWENA PLETT
Reporter / photographer
Imagine yourself standing in a small backyard surrounded by a four to five-foot-high wooden fence. Then imagine numerous bald eagles swooping down from the sky and converging around you.
That is what Gerald Wiens of Marion experienced in a recent trip to Alaska.
The photographer has a large collection of wildlife and nature slides. He has a slide or two of an eagle at rest but has received numerous requests for a picture of an eagle in flight. Normally, eagles fly high, out of range of any camera, so to capture them on film in flight is impossible.
Wiens learned about a unique place in Alaska where such a feat could be accomplished, and he decided to take advantage of the opportunity.
He and his friend, Bob Gress from Great Plains Nature Center, Wichita, made reservations to photograph the large birds at a private eagle-feeding station in Alaska.
Jean Keene, known world wide as the "Eagle Lady," is a 78-year-old woman who moved to Homer, Alaska, in 1977. Homer is located about a five-hour drive south of Anchorage close to the southern coast of Alaska.
Keene lives in a small mobile home at the end of a five-mile long, quarter-mile wide strip of land that juts out into Kachemak Bay. It is known as the Homer spit. It has no trees or grass, only sand and gravel. A wood-processing industry, motel, and restaurant are located on the spit.
Keene's property is at a corner of a small campground which she manages during the winter.
Keene took bird feeding to a new level. While working as supervisor at a fish-processing plant, she began bringing home buckets of fish pieces and tossing them to the bald eagles which were conspicuous in the area.
Their numbers grew as more and more of the birds discovered this ready source of food. Since her retirement 10 years ago, she feeds at least 200 to 250 bald eagles every day from late December to early April.
The fish are stored in bulk in a freezer trailer nearby. They are piled into large plastic carts with a loader tractor and thawed under heat lamps. Keene feeds approximately 700 pounds each day.
Wiens and Gress had made reservations to spend four days during feeding time in the small compound with Keene. Only four cameramen were allowed inside. From 10 to 11:30 a.m., they were there with cameras on tripods, taking one roll of film after another, hoping for that one spectacular print.
The surroundings weren't pleasant, Wiens said. Fish and fish juice were flying everywhere. It was smelly and messy, with bits of fish flesh and bone covering the ground. The Eagle Lady's clothes were covered with fish slime.
Other photographers, as well as on-lookers, gathered on the outside of the compound. They were allowed to take pictures from open side doors or tail-gates but were not allowed to get out of their vehicles for fear of frightening the birds. Keene was very strict about that, Wien said.
The Kansas men were warned to be prepared for sub-zero temperatures and had packed several bags of warm clothing, but the weather was unexpectedly mild.
The week of Jan. 19-26 proved to be warmer in Alaska than in Kansas, where the temperature got down to zero. There, it was 25-40 degrees. Most of their clothing wasn't even taken out of the bags.
"I've been a photographer for many years, but I've never had such a difficult situation," Wiens said.
Lighting was a problem because in all but the first day, skies were overcast with periods of drizzle and light snow. The starkness of winter was all around, not providing much color or a distinctive backdrop for the birds.
Getting a full view, well-focused, unblurred snapshot was a major struggle. Wiens said it was difficult to keep the camera focused on one bird because of its speed. Often the birds criss-crossed as they came in from all directions and flew away again.
As illustrated in the accompanying pictures, Wiens did manage to get 12 or 13 usable photos out of the more than 1,200 snapshots he took.
Wiens said eagles landed as close to him as three feet. After the birds had eaten their fill, they flew off and rested on the tops of buildings, fence posts, ship masts, and rock outcroppings.
Photographers come to the eagle-feeding station from all over the world. One photographer on site when Wiens was there was from England.
A local photographer estimated that more than 80 percent of existing flying eagle pictures have been taken at that site.
Stories about the Eagle Lady have appeared in many magazines and on TV programs throughout the world.
One reporter described her as "having flaming red hair, long painted nails, and rose-colored film-star shades."
She grew up on a farm in Minnesota, where she learned to break and train horses. Later, she became a trick rider with Red River Rodeo. Her daredevil career ended in 1953 when she suffered a serious injury.
She had developed a successful dog grooming and training business when she first visited Alaska to attend a wedding.
After returning home, she purchased a travel trailer and headed north to stay.
Keene has braved all sorts of weather to keep her appointments with the eagles. According to rumors, she may soon quit.
Wiens said he was happy to have gotten in on the unique opportunity to capture in flight the nation's national symbol of freedom and strength.
