Even four years after photographing adorable eaglets in Dungeness, the initial reaction remains the same for Keith Ross: “What are those?”
Baby eagles, who Ross named Eddie and Elliott, captured the international attention of major news sites and publications after he snapped the photos in May 2019.
“It’s been huge,” Ross said of the attention.
He’s gone on to make prints, puzzles, and have his photos appear in millions of Scholastic elementary school newspapers.
Now he’s preparing to release his first book — “The Rescue of Eddie & Elliott – A Bald Eaglet Adventure.”
The all-age, 11-inch-by-8.5-inch book comes as an experience Ross feels needs to include the plush versions of the brother birds combined by Velcro at the wings, along with a camouflage bag for fun.
“I wrote this book envisioning a loved one sitting down with a child, handing them the plush birds, and reading the wonderful story about this bald eaglet rescue,” he wrote on his website.
“The Rescue of Eddie & Elliott” follows Elliott’s perspective chronologically from falling out of the tree to going to the vet to being photographed to being safely placed back in the Dungeness tree, he said.
The book and plush birds are sold only as a set “to guarantee a full and rewarding experience for everyone,” he said.
Pre-orders are open now at his website keithsframeofmind.com.
About 1,000 remain on his initial order, and will arrive to him June 2-3.
Ross will ship at a flat rate or offer free pick up from his studio near Sunshine Lavender and Herb Farm by calling 509-679-6185.
Once his initial order sells out, it’ll take about four months to receive more, Ross said.
Finding Eddie and Elliott
According to Ross, Dungeness resident Kathy Pitts discovered an eaglet under a bush and then the second inside the bush after falling from the nest of their parents Ricky and Lucy, named by local photographers.
After the eaglets received a clean bill of health at Greywolf Veterinary Clinic, Jaye Moore, retired director of Sequim’s Northwest Raptor Center, asked Ross to come and take photos of the eaglets being placed back in the tree on Marine Drive by Casey Balch, owner of Pacific Northwest Tree Service.
Nearly four years later, Ross said he knows the eaglets did grow up and leave the nest (fledge), but he’s unsure where Eddie and Elliott are now in the area as they weren’t banded with trackers.
He said his book helps correct the myth that parent birds will reject babies after being handled and having human scent.
Publication process
“The Rescue of Eddie & Elliott” was written over Ross’ Christmas vacation in 2019.
“Writing it was easy,” he said. “It flowed out of my mind, my soul.”
The struggle, Ross said, was formatting the story to print for three years, until he contracted Melissa Coffman with Bookhouse Publishing in Bellingham to manage the book project. Through the process, Ross retained control of the story, pictures, text and flow, he said.
The book also includes bald eagle facts written by Shelly Ament, a wildlife biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, who also monitored the eaglets’ rescue.
Fulfilling his vision to include plush eaglets with the book took some time too, Ross said.
He initially contracted with a factory overseas to replicate his cover picture as plush birds, he said, and after going back and forth for months, he decided to contract his idea out with two other factories.
“It took until a few months ago to get it to where I was satisfied,” he said.
Good things
Ross worked in commercial fuel sales for 35 years before stepping away from that full-time in 2021 to focus on his business ventures through Keith’s Frame of Mind with his wife Kryztyna. Using his commercial sales background, Ross said he’s learned that by “treating people well and making friends out there, I just keep getting opportunities.”
Despite previously being a wildlife-exclusive photographer, Ross was asked to take on being the official portrait photographer of the Sequim Irrigation Festival. He accepted the role, added portrait photography to his repertoire, and now has a full portrait studio. Through his first year with the festival, he met Moore, and was later given the opportunity through her to photograph the eaglets’ rescue.
“It created opportunity just by taking good care of people,” Ross said. “When you put good things out there, good things come back.”
Now Ross operates out of a large studio doing portraits, prints, framing, classes, custom furniture and more. For more about Keith’s Frame of Mind, visit keithsframeofmind.com.
Photo courtesy of Keith Ross, Keith’s Frame of Mind/ Down at ground level, photographer Keith Ross snaps a photo of eaglets that fell from their tree in 2019 as Jaye Moore watches. He used this image for the back cover of his book.
Photo courtesy of Keith Ross, Keith’s Frame of Mind/ Keith Ross has spent much of his professional photography career capturing images of birds.
Photo courtesy of Keith Ross, Keith’s Frame of Mind/ Eddie, and his brother Elliott, not pictured, captured the attention of readers and viewers across the globe in 2019 after they were rescued by volunteers in Dungeness after falling from a tree. Photographer Keith Ross turned the brothers’ story into a book “The Rescue of Eddie & Elliott – A Bald Eaglet Adventure.”
