On Wed, 22 Mar 1995, Joel Levin wrote:
> On our Seattle Audubon trip to San Juan Island this past Saturday we
> spotted several golden eagles at American Camp. Does anyone have
> information about how this golden eagle enclave got established? The
> availability of rabbits certainly keeps them from going hungry.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'established', but the Golden Eagles are
there because of the drier, open conditions found in the rainshadow of the
Olympic Mts. The huge number of rabbits doesn't hurt the situation for
them either. Golden eagles exist on the westside in other rainshadows,
too. They can be found in the NE portion of the Olympic Range, and on the
northeast slopes of the major volcanoes in WA: Rainier, Adams, and Baker
(I don't think St Helens is any longer suitable, but I could be wrong),
and above timberline along the crest and down the eastern slopes of the
Cascades. All they need are drier, open forests with clearings or large
openings, and an abundance of fuzzy things to eat. And a bit of distance
from too many people.

____________________________
Mike Smith
Univ. of Washington, Seattle
whimbrel at u.washington.edu
http://salmo.cqs.washington.edu/~wagap/mike.html