Bald Eagles in the Apostle Islands


Going Nature’s Way
By Kate Crowley
With the ridiculously warm weather we had last week, the migration of birds returning north accelerated, only this year rather than seeing robins and red-winged blackbirds what I’ve been seeing are lots and lots of Bald Eagles.  It really has been spectacular.
It began three weeks ago when we went to Bayfield and took the ferry over to Madeline Island.  There was ice on either side of the boat as we crossed the Bay, but the sun was warm and the sky was blue.  On the way back to Bayfield I noticed a couple large dark birds performing an aerial ballet, with twists and turns and I knew immediately it was a pair of Bald Eagles engaged in courtship display.  Then I looked ahead and to the left of the boat and standing on the ice floes were at least six dark bird shapes.  More eagles! The boat had left an open channel of water and some were standing near the edge, hoping I guess, for a fish to appear.  As we approached they all took flight and soon the air above the boat was a tableau of these great birds slowly circling above us, with white heads and tails gleaming in the late afternoon sun. 
These had to be early arrivals.  The Apostle Islands are ideal for eagles, with large trees for nests and lots of opportunities to find fish.  Peggy Burtman, a representative from the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore shared the fact that 2015 was a big year with 35 occupied nests, up from 26 in 2014.   Fourteen nests were successful in 2015 with 21 chicks and 12 nests were successful in 2014 with 17 successful chicks, which is quite a change since 1983 when the first eaglet fledged after more than 15 years.  This increase in numbers coincided closely with the bans put on the use of DDT and PCBs. We have witnessed a fantastic resurgence in numbers of our national bird and it is still just as thrilling to see them now as it was when they were threatened.
On Saturday, March 12th I was in Duluth with three Nepali students from St. Cloud.  I decided to show them the city from the vantage point of the Skyline Drive Scenic Byway.  The sky was clear blue and the sun was heating up the volcanic rocks that make up this steep embankment that was once the actual shoreline of the great lake.  The warm air rising from below was providing the perfect escalator for the big raptors. 
I kept pointing out the eagles to the students - ‘there’s one, there’s another one, oh and look, there’s two more’.  It was crazy. I have never seen so many Bald Eagles in transport like this.  As we drove beneath the Thompson Overlook site, we passed a group of guys standing in the parking area with four or five spotting scopes set up.   I decided to stop and see what they were up to.   I asked if they were watching the eagles and they confirmed my suspicions.  Then I noticed one of the men was Frank Nicoletti, the long-time official counter at Hawk Ridge. 
I introduced myself and the college students and we learned that this was one of two locations where they do the annual spring migration count.  Most of us know about Hawk Ridge and the counts done in the fall, but Frank and some others are back at it in the spring to try and get an estimate of how many and what species are coming back.  He told us they’d seen Golden Eagles, as well as Bald Eagles. 
The Golden’s have been increasing in number in our state over the last few years and in fact, when we drove on, just a few miles away we saw three Golden Eagles, one being chased by a Bald Eagle.  I had to explain to the Nepali’s that Mike and I were serious birdwatchers and what we were seeing on this morning was truly special.  Some of the eagles were just above the trees and I pulled the car over to the side of the road so we could watch them more easily. 
The numbers gradually dwindled as we continued to drive north, but there is no question that these birds are the on their way to territories in the Boundary Waters, and up into the Quetico and further north.  By giving eagles protection through the Endangered Species Act, and by removing poisons from the environment, we have brought our national symbol back from the brink.  I wish I could say their future is without worry, but until we get lead out of fishing gear and ammunition, many will die. These birds are at the top of the food chain and so they eat fish that have eaten lead sinkers and deer remains; either gut-piles left behind or animals that are shot, but not recovered by the hunters.  Some eagles found suffering from lead poisoning and are treated by wildlife rescue organizations, but countless others will never have that luck.  Seeing them flying in such great numbers gives us hope, but we must continue to be vigilant and strive for further changes.
I’m sure I mentioned in a column last year that the Minnesota DNR has an eagle web cam set up.  It is in operation again this year at  http://www.webcams.dnr.state.mn.us/eagle/ .  I checked it out this evening and even at night I was able to see the adult and enough motion below to tell me that baby eaglets are like a lot of human babies and are awake and active even after the sun goes down.  It’s a fascinating story to watch unfold live through the camera; with all the drama that exists in nature. 
In the coming weeks, keep your eyes on the sky and see if you can’t spot some more Bald Eagles returning with the sun from their winter sojourn. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sense of Place

Image
GOING NATURE’S WAY By Kate Crowley I am intrigued by the idea of Sense of Place; to feel completely ‘at home’ in one particular place.  I have read that people who grow up on the Great Plains feel claustrophobic when they are in forested environments and in reverse,  people who have grown up surrounded by forest find the openness of the plains unnerving, with nothing to break the view to the horizon. I grew up in the city, but the Minnehaha Creek and Parkway were just two blocks away and I spent countless hours playing and exploring there.  The city lakes were within biking distance. The Mississippi River was just blocks away from the apartment where I lived the first four years of my life.  When I was 36 I married Mike and moved to our current home and it was perfect.  When my dad first visited us in our new home, he said, “Kate must think she’s died and gone to heaven”.  This is where I am supposed to be.  Scientists who have studied the e...
Read more

The Munger Trail - Willow River to Moose Lake

Image
The Willard Munger Trail - named for one of the environmental heroes of MN is our neighborhood bike trail and the place I get my biking exercise and conditioning.  I thought it would be good to share some of its highlights and pleasures.  So here is a look at the trail and what I enjoy. The small towns that prospered during the days when the trail was a railroad track and the country moved by Steam Engine are just a shadow of what they used to be, but that shadow is filled with surprises and fun places to explore if you give yourself the time to engage in the setting, as well as the peddling.  Willow River is our little home town and the Mercantile is over 100 years old and still meets many of our needs.  It is a place for refreshments and Peggy Sue's is a local restaurant that makes a great lunch or dinner stop. There is also a local park that provides you with a sense of the RR past. The trail is very straight like most RR grades and lacks hills except ...
Read more

Rain threatens birds

Image
WINGIN’ IT By Kate Crowley As the floodwaters recede, a stunned and relieved populace can finally stop holding their collective breath. Throughout southern Carlton County and all of Pine County there is a sense of disbelief that only four years after a major flood event, it has happened again.  At our home we measured over 8” of rain in less than 24 hours. This is what the word deluge was meant to describe. Others said it felt like they were in the middle of a monsoon. Thankfully there was no loss of life in our region, but property damage and loss was significant for people who have in some cases finally recovered and remodeled after the flood of 2012, which was said to be a once in 100 years flood when 8 to 10 inches of rain were spread over three days. Here in Willow River, there was fear that the small dam holding back the waters of the river would fail, with catastrophic results. Roads throughout the two counties (and into Wisconsin) were hard hit and the cost to re...
Read more