PA's 200th Bald Eagle Nest

I actually got something cool from the PA Game Commission... this great 6-inch, embroidered patch celebrating the 200th Nest Milestone in the Bald Eagle Restoration effort!

I know the nest added in Union Dale, Susquehanna County (which I helped track since photographing sticks/twigs being carried to it about 18 months ago) this year was brand new to the list, with successful breeding taking place as well. This is the county I was born and raised in, and it is the first recorded nest there.

Bald Eagles were almost a complete loss in PA, as in other places. Cool patch, Just thought I’d pass it on!!

Bill

Nice to hear that they are doing so well in my native state. I've seen them in winter at Warren and along the river at Delaware Water Gap, and I know they have nested near DuBois along I-80.

I also know that the story is much the same in NJ where I spent 24 years, having grown from a single location in South Jersey in the 70's to at least 80 nests last time I heard.

ongratulations on that number. I am not sure how many we have in Florida but are always working to educate the public and raise awareness.
Next week I will be taking an Eagle Watch training class at St. Marks NWR. I have never had any official training but did send GPS coordinates on nests I have spotted as well as photos of them.

Occassionally we get folks up from S. Fl. who comment on how the Eagles are "all over the place," "nest right on my golf-course." Which is a good thing but we certainly don't have that abundance here in the Big Bend.

Keep up the great work in the state of my ancestors.

Thank you Richard, yes, the Delaware is one very hot BE area... there is a river called the Lackawaxen that runs from Honesdale, PA right to the Delaware--it is a very big BE nesting area (for PA), and in January or February the area is abundant with the birds as they converge on that stretch, with different events held each year. Great on NJ as well!!

Thanks Nick, wow sounds cool!! I've never had any official training either and could use some, lol, but when I started watching these magnificent birds five miles from where I grew up, I got hooked! We would NEVER have thought of Bald Eagles there growing up.

BTW, anyone who is not familiar with it and wants to help track Eagles and every bird species imaginable, use the Cornell Lab's and Audubon Society's eBird page to have your lists added to their database... http://ebird.org/content/ebird/. I've been using it for a couple of years now, and while I don't track every sighting, I do add those I think are unusual or have significant numbers.

Again, thanks on the patch. It's one of those, "little things mean a lot"... at first it was just "cool", now I'm debating how to display it. Glad to hear from two former Keystone Staters!


Bill

Side story, and most importantly, right after the Eagles started nest construction, construction of another kind began--a 30-inch natural gas pipeline was being put in less than 200 yards from the nesting site by Tennessee Gas!! I will put a photo and full story about that in EPJ one day, but I got a lot of grief from local truckers, workers and business people--my friends--who expected a boon time because of all the imports that would be here. I simply wanted to see the nest preserved, was contacted by the commonwealth's leading environmental group, and my photos and story went thru the state of PA, all the way to the fed gov't. Helicopters, news stations, research units, blah blah blah, It became a big deal.

Luckily, both were completed successfully and without major incident it appears. Those friends who were friends, still are. The others, I can live without.

Pretty cool. They are really making a comeback in the lower 48.