Sidebar:
On Observing the Chesapeake’s Eagles
By Matt Olear
 |
| Bald
Eagle, Tule Lake NWR, California. (Dave Menke) |
As the symbol of the United States of America, the American bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) embodies the virtue of this free nation. Now, more than 200 years after this magnificent raptor’s selection as the national symbol, the recovery of the bald eagle from near extinction stands as a crowning achievement of this country’s conservation efforts, and as a symbol of hope that those efforts are not in vain.
According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), when the founding fathers chose the bald eagle as the national symbol in 1782, as many as 100,000 eagles nested in the continental United States, excluding Alaska, home to one of the country’s densest eagle populations. As a result of habitat destruction, human persecution, and—most notably—the use of the pesticide DDT, by 1963, only 417 nesting pairs of bald eagles occupied the lower 48 states.
Thanks to the banning of DDT in 1972 and the recovery efforts of the USFWS, many other state and federal agencies, conservation organizations, and public and private groups, this American icon has made a dramatic comeback. With about half of North America’s 70,000 bald eagles in Alaska, and about 12,000 now well established in the lower 48 states, the recovery of the bald eagle is a true success story. For those of us living in the Chesapeake Bay region, the fruits of these restoration efforts can be readily enjoyed within a few hour‘s drive—sometimes even in our own backyards.
|
|
The Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries have long been a bald eagle stronghold. Near the turn of the 20th century, more than 1,000 pairs of eagles inhabited the Bay. It is even reputed that the country’s largest estuary once had a bald eagle nest along every mile of waterfront.
Today, according to the USFWS’s Chesapeake Bay Field Office, the Chesapeake Bay watershed has one of the highest concentrations of bald eagles in the lower 48 states, boasting a population of more than 2,000 birds. In addition to the breeding population, the Bay supports winter migrants from as far north as Canada and summer migrants from Florida.
 |
Bald eagles at
daybreak in the Reelfoot NWR, Tennessee. (David Haggard) |
The Bay’s breeding birds, which lay their eggs
before the start of spring each year, usually do not
migrate. As a result, bald eagles can be viewed in the
Chesapeake Bay region at any time throughout the year.
One just has to know where to look.
Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
reports that most bald eagle nests in this region occur
within one mile of the Bay and its tidal tributaries,
with 60 percent found in mature loblolly pines, as well
as in tulip poplars and oaks along the shores of rivers
like the Chester, Choptank, Patuxent, and Potomac. They
can also be found along nontidal areas of the Potomac
and Susquehanna Rivers, as well as large reservoirs,
such as Loch Raven and Triadelphia in Maryland. The
latter is located near the town of Olney, about 30 minutes
from downtown Washington. If that’s not close
enough for D.C. residents, The Washington Post
reported in May that for the sixth year a pair of bald
eagles has taken up residence on Rosilie Island near
the Maryland shore of the Potomac and a stone’s
throw away from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. However,
according to the Post, bridge officials are asking birdwatchers
to resist the temptation to view the eagles because
the nest can only be seen from the river, which currently
hosts an active construction site.
|
|
According to the DNR, two locations in Maryland where these impressive sights are most commonly seen are Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Cambridge and the Susquehanna River below Conowingo Dam in Harford County, where eagles nesting at Aberdeen Proving Ground often feed. Each of these populations boasts more than 100 individuals. Many of Blackwater’s nesting birds can be seen from Wildlife Drive, a six-and-a-half-mile path that affords the best views of the eagles. Located on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Blackwater NWR is only about a two-hour drive from Washington. However, some residents of the Chesapeake Bay region needn’t travel any farther than their own backyards to catch a glimpse of the nation’s symbol.
From Virginia Beach, Virginia, to Port Deposit, Maryland, people who live and work around the Bay and its tributaries have the opportunity in their everyday travels to view, if only for a fleeting moment, one of the world’s most spectacular birds. The website www.baldeagleinfo.com features stories submitted by people all over the country who have been so fortunate. Eighteen Maryland and Virginia residents have shared their stories on this site, including an Alexandria resident whose apartment window provides a bird’s eye view of an eagle nest, as well as a locomotive engineer who watched an eagle fly alongside his train as it rumbled along the Susquehanna.
As exceptional as these sightings are, forty years ago they would have been rare indeed, here or anywhere else in the contiguous United States. Thanks to the efforts made to save the American bald eagle from extinction, we once again have the opportunity to view, in its rightful place, this vital part of our country’s national and natural heritage.
—Matt Olear, writer and media
specialist, FONZ
Areas in the Region to View
Bald Eagles
Besides the National Zoo's Bald Eagle Refuge,
located in Beaver Valley, there are a variety of sites
around the Washington, D.C., area to view our national
bird in the wild.
Blackwater NWR — Cambridge
http://blackwater.fws.gov/
Conowingo Dam, Susquehanna River
North of Port Deposit
http://www.harfordbirdclub.org/conowingo.html
Flag Ponds Nature Park —
Lusby
http://calvert-county.com/flagpond.htm
Jefferson Patterson Park —
St. Leonard
http://www.jefpat.org
Susquehanna State Park —
Jarrettsville
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/
central/susquehanna.html
Virginia:
Mason Neck State Park — Lorton http://www.dcr.state.va.us/parks/masonnec.htm
Mason Neck NWR — Lorton
http://northeast.fws.gov/va/msn.htm
Rappahannock River Valley NWR
east of Fredericksburg
http://www.dgif.state.va.us/wildlife/vbwt/index.asp
The Caledon Natural Area, east
of Fredericksburg
http://www.dcr.state.va.us/parks/caledon.htm
(A good place to spot bald eagles in the Caledon Natural
Area is west of the U.S. 301 Bridge on the south shore
of the Potomac River.)
More Information:
The Chesapeake Bay Program
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/bald_eagle.htm
American Bald Eagle Information
website
http://www.baldeagleinfo.com
Center for Conservation Biology
College of William & Mary
http://fsweb.wm.edu/ccb/eaglevideo/eag_home.htm
ZooGoer 32(4)
2003. Copyright 2003 Friends of the National Zoo.
All rights reserved.
