This massive bird has a 7-8 ft. wingspan and at 5 lbs. heavier, a foot taller and longer, it dwarfs Bald Eagles. It normally lives in eastern Russia, the Korean Peninsula and northern Japan. With only about 4,000 left in the wild it is a vulnerable species. This Steller’s Sea-Eagle took off on an astounding cross-continent journey with the seeming ease that a weather satellite circles the globe. It began in Denali, Alaska in 2020 and then was discovered in Victoria, TX, 3/7/21, known to be the same bird because of the photo match of the border between the white and brown feathers on the upper wing pattern. Then it bounced to eastern Canada in the Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec/New Brunswick in June then was in Nova Scotia three months later.
On December 19, 2021 there were rumors of it being spotted near the Taunton River in MA and on December 20th it was re-found and all hell broke loose. Word spread and birders descended and scoured the area until spotting it. Only about 200 lucky birders got to see it before it flew north after only hours of being there. I was not one of them. I near cried. I started an emotional support group for those who missed it called the “Big Dipper’s” club (joking, to dip is to miss a bird).
The STSE continued its journey to mid-Maine where it moved around for another few months. I could not follow it there because I had a sick husband who had Lewy-Body Dementia plus 2 Corgis. The STSE then went to NB and NS Canada, then back to ME briefly. Since November 2023 it has found a home in Newfoundland and been in a number of places there. Since late 2025 it has been seen in Trinity Bay at Green’s Harbor Point and now since July 2026 at Whiteway Bay, Salmon Point, accessible by boat.
Fast forward through my life in which Don died last year, I got remarried in May to Tony and the number one question we were asked was “where are you going on your honeymoon?” Where do you think - to see the Stellar’s Sea-Eagle!!! With no guarantee we would find the eagle since her track record is to move around, we went for it last week!
The trip was not easy, there are no direct flights, but we lucked through making a very tight connection between Montreal and St. John’s, the capital of NL.
We hooked up with Steller’s Sea-Eagle Tour from Whiteway run by Robert Burgess (902-210-0444). Getting to the eagle is all about the wind! Newfoundland is a VERY windy place! Robert only goes out in his small boat when he thinks it is safe. Robert kept messaging me about a potential window of opportunity for good seas but the weather changed constantly producing weather anxiety on my part. We only had three days (Saturday-Monday) to be there. Finally, Robert said Sunday morning early looked best. We had dinner Saturday night and still had a few hours of daylight, so over-eager me talked Tony to going to a spot of land on Old Track Road 1.7 miles across the bay from Salmon Point. I got out our Swarovski AT Balance image-stabilized, hand-held scope and started scanning. My eye caught a very, very distant object in the conifers on the cliff that had two white wing patches and a big yellow blob (her bill!!) that moved left to right and back. OMG, it’s the STSE!!!! My first thought was to get Tony on it, which I did by handing him the scope and giving good (he said) directions, then to try to digiscope a bad photo (remember it could fly away at any time) which I did. I was so excited I contacted Robert and told him we were looking at the eagle and the seas looked (deceptively) calm to us. He said come over and obligingly took us out in what was rougher seas for a “record shot.” Yes, the boat ride was rocky but we got close enough for some shots of her up high on a conifer, thank goodness for autofocus! Robert said the next morning would be much better for photos and it was, as you can see, although it was cloudy. Robert, who is a photographer himself, did an excellent job of getting us in good positions to take photos and is respectful of keeping about 100 feet away from the high cliff which is the STSE’s frequent spot. I used the Canon R5 Mark II with 100-500 mm lens, Tony was using the Nikon P1100 with its 3000 mm lens. Some of my photos are heavily cropped. We left totally elated, my dream had come true. There is no feeling like that!!
Make no mistake, the Steller’s Sea-Eagle is a savy, skilled survivor far from her native land, although it is interesting that Newfoundland is on the same latitude as her home area. She (some people think it is a female) has skirmishes with the many Bald Eagles, sometimes hangs out with juvenile Bald Eagles and learns from gulls who may lead her to fish. Newfoundland has plenty of food, places to perch and shelter and she is making a good living. And no, there is no plan to import a mate.
We also had some other great bird experiences, Newfoundland is full of them, such as seeing millions of nesting sea birds like Northern Gannets, Atlantic Puffins, murres and Black-legged Kittiwakes. More photos to come next week.
P.S. If you want to go see this amazing bird, go now!! She seems localized in her patch at least for a while. The weather gets too bad soon and shuts down the boat tours in fall.
