Replenished bald eagle population find niche in Jersey

[Donna]

EAST BRUNSWICK — Leeron Tagger was driving on River Road, near the Old Bridge border, recently when he saw what he thought was a bald eagle. The 25-year-old East Brunswick resident, who works as an environmental scientist, took several photos of the bird, which he followed for some distance before watching it pair up with another bald eagle.

“I looked up in the sky and saw two of them circling around high up above the South
River,� Tagger said. “When I first saw the one bird, I was like, "It could be a stray, maybe just a male soaring around for habitat or for a female.' But when I saw two of them, I said, "That's nice to see.' They make long-term partnerships with each other.

“It's possible that they're looking for a nesting habitat, and that's really, really
promising.�

Scott Barnes, senior naturalist at New Jersey Audobon's Sandy Hook Bird Observatory, said bald eagles in New Jersey are not as rare as they used to be. Barnes said the state Division of Fish and Wildlife estimates there are about 70 nesting pairs of bald eagles in New Jersey – up from just one recorded pair during the early- to mid-1970s.

Barnes said the discontinued use of the insecticide DDT as well as a proactive eagle
rearing effort by the state have helped replenish the numbers of our national bird in the Garden State. Most of the bald eagles are concentrated in South Jersey, along the major river systems like the Mullica, Great Egg Harbor and Cohansey.

But Barnes said a place next to the Middlesex County landfill also makes for an ideal
habitat, with the availability of isolated spots for nesting next to plentiful sources of fish and water fowl.

Barnes said bald eagles are also taking a liking to to mid-sized artificial lakes and
reservoirs in New Jersey – such as Farrington Lake in East Brunswick.

Richard Wolfert, chairman of the East Brunswick Environmental Organization, said the nesting pair near the landfill has been well-chronicled, and he suspects there may be another pair at Farrington Lake where he spotted a solitary bald eagle in February.

“I got fabulous shots of a bald eagle right on Farrington Lake – it kept flying in the
same area and landing in the same spot,� said Wolfert, who also feels the discontinued use of DDT has made a big difference.

“The DDT used to thin the eggs of bald eagles, so when the female would nest, many of the eggs would break,� Wolfert said. “So the number of offspring significantly dropped because of DDT.�

“Humans have really helped them come back,� Barnes said. “We were the cause for their major decline but we've also been responsible, in part, for their resurgence.�

Daily Record

[valhalla]

 

[MAK]

  That's an awesome pic!