From the Courier-Post

May 3, 2008

Bald eagles in dramatic comeback

By RICHARD PEARSALL
Courier-Post Staff

No bald eagles were in sight as Mick Valent wrapped a climbing strap around the tall, slender pine and began ascending to the nest above.

But before the state biologist had risen 20 feet, a bald eagle appeared out of nowhere and began circling the nest.

"You may not have seen them," said Kathleen Clark, another biologist with the state Division of Fish and Wildlife, "but you can be sure the adults know exactly what's going on here. They always have the nest in sight."

What was going on was the banding of the approximately 5-week-old chick that Valent retrieved from the nest and lowered to Clark and others waiting on the ground below.

It was all part of a monitoring program that has the team from the Endangered and Non-Game Species Program at the Wildlife Division checking out 12 to 15 chicks a year.

The eaglet, with fluffy gray feathers but a fierce-looking beak, was weighed and measured and had bands attached to both legs so that, encountered years hence and miles away, "we'll know where they came from, how far they've dispersed, how long they've lived," said Dr. Erica Miller, a veterinarian with Tri-State Bird Rescue, based in Newark, Del.

Miller drew blood samples that will be tested for a large range of contaminants, including lead and other heavy metals, PCBs, dioxin and even DDT.
"We're monitoring not only the bald eagles' health, but the health of the environment," Miller said.

Before long, but not before drawing the "oohs and aahs" of the novices in the small group of spectators assembled, the chick was re-hooded, re-bagged and hoisted back up to a waiting Valent for return to the nest.

Contaminants routinely show up in the lab work, Clark said, hardly surprising since bald eagles feed on fish.

But the "trend is good," Clark said, with some improvement in the level of contaminants, and a huge improvement in the bald eagle population.
"In 1985 we had one nest in New Jersey," Miller said. "Now we have 70."
"They're growing exponentially," Clark said, "doubling every five years."

Return to News Coverage