Nature's Notebook

This season has been a bonanza for Northwest Corner eagle watchers, with an apparent pair of adult bald eagles taking up winter residence on and around Lake Wononscopomuc in Lakeville. Wildlife photographer Scott Whalen sent in this latest photograph of one of the pair, as well as another of a sub-adult bald eagle taken at the same lake.

The recovery of the bald eagle in the past two decades, and its concomitant increase in numbers in New England, is one of the great success stories of conservation, and particularly of the federal Endangered Species Act, which was signed into law by, of all people, Richard M. Nixon. So robust have eagle populations become that it is now proposed they be "de-listed" altogether, moved off the endangered species list from their current "threatened" status.

Nevertheless, it should not be assumed that the presence of eagles in winter means that they are nesting here. To nest, bald eagles usually need an ample territory alongside a large body of water, as well as a degree of removal from human disturbance. As a consequence, in recent years there have been only two successful breeding pairs in all of Connecticut, as far as I know: one at Barkhamstead Reservoir and the other along the Connecticut River.

Of course, I would be glad to be proven wrong.

Bald eagles generally breed from mid-March through April. Their nest is a large, bulky mass of sticks and grasses placed high in a tree and reused from year to year.

For eagle lovers who can’t get enough of the majestic raptors, there is a second species in our region, just slightly farther afield. For quite a few years now, a pair of golden eagles has nested on Stissing Mountain in Pine Plains, N.Y. It can be challenging to distinguish these two large raptors, especially between individuals that have not reached classic adult plumage. Golden eagles tend to have more "buteo-like" proportions — think of a dark, oversized red-tailed hawk — while even young bald eagles possess a conspicuously huge beak. [Editor’s note: Buteo is a word used to refer to soaring birds of prey.]

Finally, if you are a raptor fan like me, keep an eye on on the op-ed pages for raptorphile Tony Piel’s filings from Patagonia, mixing descriptions of birds such as the awesome Andean Condorwith succinct political analysis!

Fred Baumgarten is a naturalist and writer. He can be reached at fredb58@sbcglobal.net. His blog is at thatbirdblog.blogspot.com.