55 bald eagles communing over the Nooksack River in Washington state were photographed during the salmon run- and all in one tree!
In 2011, photographer Chuck Hilliard went up the Skagit River in the state of Washington to observe and photograph bald eagles. With the weather being what it was at the time, the water flow had increased dramatically putting the salmon out of reach of the bald eagles in the area.
With very few of the beautiful birds to observe, Hilliard would have to change gears and find another area to photograph, and find them he did.
Hilliard told the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:
"I learned that eagles also gathered on the Nooksack River, which is in a valley about 30 miles north. After mapping out my plans, I spent several weekends locating different areas to access the Nooksack River to find the eagles."
"One of the places I found," he said, "after accessing the river, was this area with the tree. While there were other eagles around, the tree stood out. Not just for the number of eagles, but also the fact that there were none in the trees directly surrounding it."