I just happened to notice that today is “Save The Eagles” day. Just to be clear, we’re talking the bird, not the band. I like them both, but the band can save themselves if they like. The birds may or may not need help.
Since I noticed it was Save The Eagles day, I looked into the history of the day. Back in the 70s, the eagle population was in rough shape. It probably started around then, right?
Nope. Save The Eagles day didn’t start when eagle populations dwindled to almost nothing in the 60s and 70s. It started to save two specific eagles, Al and Alice from Overpeck Creek, New Jersey in 2015.
Alice and Al had been nesting near a landfill for years. A developer claimed there were health risks involved with the site, and part of the solution invovled cutting back some trees. Al and Alice lived in one of those trees, so residents rallied to save their nesting site. To help out, the local Audubon society organized Save The Eagles day, which has now become a thing in other places.
I happen to like eagles, so I think saving them is a good idea. There are sixty species of eagles in the world. Only two of them live in North America, although we have had a third visiting form time to time, a Steller’s Sea Eagle, which normally lives along the Pacific coast in Russia has been spotted on occasion. But normally, we only have Golden Eagles and Bald Eagles. Golden Eagles are usually a west coast thing, but they may be spotted around here on rare occasions, as well.
But eagles in North America went from a population of about half a million around 1900, to a level of four hundred twelve breeding pairs of bald eagles in the 1950s. It was thought that DDT and lead contamination from shot were largely responsible for the decline. Some of that lead shot was applied directly to the eagles, some was a result of eating other animals.
I can very much remember in the early 70s on fishing trips into the center of the province and spotting an eagle’s nest. It was a thrill. You just didn’t see them around. And if you were really lucky, you might actually catch sight of an eagle.
Now they’re everywhere. It’s almost hard to look up without seeing them. They follow me around when I go fishing, in the hope I might wound a fish and they can swoop in for a snack. Which can be a bit scary until you realize they aren’t coming for you. Then it’s just really impressive to watch. I know people who feed them on a regular basis.
Since they are a really large bird, it is a pretty impressive sight to have them around.
I’m not sure how much saving they need these days, but I like having them around. It’s nice having a day to recognize them, if nothing else. Thanks to Al and Alice.