Thursday, January 7, 2010

Only The Hardy Souls Walk The Winter Connecticut River - Reward? Eagles


The annual eagle count in Connecticut takes place on Jan. 9. (See full story on Connecticut Public Broadcasting site - http://www.cpbn.org/node/17505.)

From the state of Connecticut Council on Environmental Quality site (www.ct.gov):

"The bald eagle is listed as endangered in Connecticut.

"The Northern States Bald Eagle Recovery Plan established a goal for Connecticut of 20 breeding birds (10 nests), which was reached for the first time in 2005. The population of bald eagles is included as an indicator because the eagle is representative of species, especially predators, that share similar habitat requirements: large areas of relatively undisturbed land near rivers or lakes where the birds can find adequate supplies of fish and other prey that are – very importantly – only minimally contaminated."

If you are a patient walker, try looking on the Connecticut River - eagles fish the river and as the ice locks waters up, the birds follow the open river.