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Originally appeared at:
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2010/01/bald_eagles_continue_to_soar_i.html
The Green Blog
Bald eagles continue to soar in Bay State skies
Posted by bdaley January 14, 2010 11:49 AM
The majestic bald eagle thrives in the skies above Massachusetts.
An annual survey of wintering eagles this last week found 71 of the soaring animals – a continuing success story ever since pesticides and habitat loss reduced their numbers so greatly throughout the country they were declared federally endangered in 1973. The number is less than the 81 birds spotted last year and two fewer than the 73 birds spotted in 2008.
Massachusetts' last eagle nest was spotted in the early part of the last century and by 1980, only eight birds were found in the state - and no nests. Bay State officials then launched an aggressive effort to restore a breeding population, bringing young eagles from Canada and Michigan and raising them in cages overlooking the Quabbin Reservoir. By 1989, the first successful nesting took place and since then, officials have observed 337 chicks that hatched in Bay State nests taking to the skies.
 
The big news is, of course, that bald eagles are doing so well the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed them from the Endangered Species List in 2007. The bird continues to r emain on the state’s list, however, and every year Massachusetts officials and volunteers take part in a two-day survey as part of a federal effort to count the birds.
Preliminary data shows that the 40 to 50 bird spotters found the largest number of birds – 37 eagles –at the Quabbin Reservoir. Six adults and three juvenile birds were spotted on the Merrimack River while three adults and one juvenile were seen at the Wachusett Reservoir. In all, eagles were searched for in nine locations from Newburyport to Pittsfield.
"The bald eagle is the symbol of the United States, and for the past 30 years, this annual rite of winter has played a critical role in the Commonwealth’s successful efforts to study and protect these majestic birds and their habitat," said Ian Bowles, Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
Photos by Bill Byrne/Mass Wildlife
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