PHOTO: Even Salem’s bald eagles need an escape from the heat

With temperatures in the mid-90’s on Wednesday, two recently fledged baby eagles cooled themselves in the Willamette River Wednesday morning.

Salem photographer John Svendsen photographed the pair from a park bench facing Minto-Brown Island using a long telephoto lens. Svendsen observed and photographed the eagle youngsters as they explored the mud at the river’s edge for two hours and took 850 photos.

The fledglings are from a nest in tall cottonwood trees across from Riverfront Park.