Last update: 2 March 2007
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A young Bald Eagle on its nest in Highland County. |
The Eagle Watch project was started in March 2006 by three local people, Sandy Hevener, Sandy Bratton, and Patti Reum, along with Brenda Tekin, a birder from Charlottesville. For many years, people have been reporting eagle sightings in Highland County and birders have been coming from all over the state to see our eagles. But the sightings have never been documented and compiled. At the State Corporation Commission hearings in Monterey [14 March 2006], the SCC hearing examiner and lawyers heard several people speak about the numerous eagles in this county. They said it would be significant to have these sightings documented, rather than random reports by word of mouth. So immediately we started the Eagle Watch.
This was not a one-day foray where many people extensively looked for eagles in areas all over the county. Rather it consists of reports made throughout the whole year by many people in different county locations. To initiate the reporting, we made calls and spoke in person to people that we knew were interested in eagles. We asked them to call in or e-mail their sightings with information on date, time, location, species of eagle (bald or golden), age (if they knew) and behavior of the birds. We were amazed at the level of interest and how the number of participants grew as word spread.
The project really boomed when the four ladies mentioned above found their first bald eagle nest in April. At this point two nests have been found this year, though we actually suspect there are at least eight active nests due to the number of family sightings in area clusters and the presence of 11 surviving fledglings. For ease of reporting, we divided the year into quarterly reporting periods as shown in the tables below.
| Wintering – Nest Season First Quarter: 13 January through 15 April 2006 | |||
| 132 Total | ADULT | IMMATURE | NOT AGED |
| 79 bald eagles 60% | 56 71% | 19 24% | 4 5% |
| 52 golden eagles 39% | 8 15% | 25 48% | 19 37% |
| 1 unidentified eagle 1% | |||
| Hatch–Fledge Season Second Quarter: 16 April through 15 July 2006 | |||
| 250 Total | ADULT | IMMATURE | |
| 226 bald eagles 91% | 170 60% | 58 40% | |
| 15 golden eagles 6% | 12 80% | 3 20% | |
| 7 unidentified eagles 3% | |||
| Ganging Season Third Quarter: 16 July through 15 October 2006 | |||
| 297 Total | ADULT | IMMATURE | NOT AGED |
| 252 bald eagles 85% | 158 63% | 94 37% | |
| 36 golden eagles 12% | 16 44% | 9 25% | 11 30% |
| 9 unidentified eagles 3% | |||
| Migrating – Wintering Season Fourth Quarter: 16 October 2006 through 13 January 2007 | |||
| 101 Total | ADULT | IMMATURE | NOT AGED |
| 56 bald eagles 55% | 44 79% | 12 21% | |
| 44 golden eagles 44% | 12 27% | 22 50% | 10 23% |
| 1 unidentified eagle 1% | |||
Of most significance is the existence of nesting Bald Eagles and the occurrence of Golden Eagles all year long in this county (not just the winter months), both adult and immature birds. This project has made a difference in our goal of making people aware, including state and federal agencies, of the existence of both nesting Bald Eagles and year-round Golden Eagles. The September 20, 2006, report by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to the SCC states the documented high use of ridge tops by eagles and the high potential for mortality of birds (particularly eagles) from wind turbines.
The first three quarters of this study were presented in a paper, Citizen Science: Grass-Roots Effort Fills-In Critical Data Gaps, presented at a conference on Wildlife and Utility-Scale Wind Energy Development, hosted by the Department of Geography, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, Kutztown, PA, 2 December 2006. This paper contains a great many more photos and a map showing the locations of sightings.
We plan to continue this project next year because we feel it has made a huge difference in educating people about the environmental significance of our county for the continued success of breeding, feeding and year-round residence of both eagle species. Thank you and please to continue to send in your reports. If you are interested in joining this effort, please contact Patti Reum or Sandy Hevener by e-mail.
An adult Bald Eagle and three juveniles in Sandy Hevener’s yard in Blue Grass, July 2006.
There are also two crows in the upper right. Photo by Sandy Hevener
H R D welcomes your input and your support.
Write to P O Box 685, Monterey, VA 24465
Or contact the President of HRD by e-mail.