Thick fog, sprinkled with ash from a nearby controlled burn, covered hundreds of rotting kokanee salmon strewn across the pebbles of Higgens Point on Thursday. More floated lifelessly in the charcoal gray waters hugging the popular Wolf Lodge Bay.

Ariel, a sub-adult bald eagle and growing internet sensation, perched on a lakeside ponderosa pine branch. She seemed content, periodically nipping at her feathers and crop, dropping the stored food in her neck. 

Turns out, according to Idaho Fish and Game, Ariel’s been feeding on some of the largest kokanee salmon on record. The fish, of course, died naturally after spawning in the rocky shallows of this great North Idaho body of water.

Their bodies typically range from 8 to 10 inches long. During this spawning cycle, however, they’re said to reach 17 to 19 inches long. 

“It’s a pretty stark difference this year,” said Andy Dux, Idaho Fish and Game Panhandle Region fisheries manager. “It was an incredible recreational fishery this past summer.”

Idaho Fish and Game has been monitoring kokanee spawn sizes since the 1950s, and it wasn’t until 2020 that the largest adult male was recorded at 18.3 inches.

Three to five years removed from their own external fertilization, wild kokanee salmon flock to places like Wolf Lodge Bay to spawn between late November and early December. The clear, shallow waters become a frenzy of activity, where thousands of fish release eggs and milt, sometimes leap from the surface, and inevitably go belly up along the shore.

The reason why they’ve grown so big this year: good environmental conditions and an abundance of zooplankton, their go-to food source. 

“Kokanee salmon have density dependent growth,” Dux said. “There’s fewer of them with more food resources.” 

But while the kokanee salmon plump up on an abundant bounty, their scarcity creates a bit more competition among the scavenging birds of prey.

Like the majestic internet sensation in Ariel, the spawning fish attract many bald eagles and even more camera-wielding bird watchers to Higgens Point. 

Carrie Hugo, a wildlife biologist for the Bureau of Land Management, has been tracking migratory patterns of bald eagles to Lake Coeur d’Alene for the past 17 years. She said the birds typically come from the interior of British Columbia once water sources up there begin to freeze over.

“Our lake is one of the stopovers on their way south,” she said.

Hugo counted 75 eagles at her Lake Coeur d'Alene vantage point Monday. This included 55 adults and 20 juveniles. Last year’s first count, she recorded 100. 

“I’ve never seen them that big in the 17 years I've been counting eagles now,” she said of this year’s salmon.

In 2024, Hugo’s six-week count yielded 409 eagles.

“There’s fewer of them this year,” she said. “My thought is the less salmon competition between eagles is pretty intense and they move on.”

Though individual bald eagles visiting Lake Coeur d’Alene aren’t tracked after they leave, Hugo said tagged eagles from Glacier National Park in Montana show they go to one of three places during their migration south: the Snake River Plain in southern Idaho, northern Utah or the Klamath River Basin in northern California.

Before the birds leave, however, they attract thousands of visitors to Lake Coeur d’Alene each year. While warmer temperatures prompt earlier spawning, eagles often stay well into the holiday season.

Hugo said up to 4,000 visitors would come to Wolf Lodge Bay interpretive stations between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. 

Some of these visitors were out Thursday, snapping photos of Ariel.

David Dempsey, from Spokane, said he became aware of her three years ago, has “pictures of her progression,” and that “she’s the best-looking bald eagle I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s pretty exciting because you don’t really get to identify the birds,” he said. “Everybody has seemed to latch on to her because she doesn’t seem to be afraid of people.”

Rathdrum resident James Sinclair said Thursday was his very first day taking photos of Ariel. He also moved here from southern Utah for this very reason.

“I moved here to northern Idaho for the Eagles," he said.

Anita Hewitt, a Spokane resident, said she’s been coming to Lake Coeur d’Alene for the past 30 years to photograph eagles. 

Hewitt said they’re fascinating.

She also spoke of the stench of rotting fish emanating from the shoreline.

“It’s worth it,” she said, smiling.

For eagle watching events and information, visit the Coeur d'Alene Audubon website at https://www.cdaaudubon.org/. 

    Dead kokanee salmon rest ashore near a dock at Higgens Point on Lake Coeur d'Alene on Thursday.
  

    Ariel, a well-known bald eagle, sits in a tree near Higgens Point at Lake Coeur d'Alene as Anita Hewitt, a Spokane resident, takes photos of her Thursday.
  

    Anita Hewitt, a Spokane resident, takes photos of a bald eagle at Higgens Point at Lake Coeur d'Alene on Thursday.

    Ariel sits on a branch near at Higgens Point on Monday.