THE EAGLES OF GOODYEAR LAKE
THE GOODYEAR LAKE EAGLES It’s a girl!
On May 18, 2007 Scott Van Arsdale from the NY DEC banded a new arrival in our area nest. She was about 3 ½ weeks old and very healthy at the time of this picture. The March storms seemed to have affected the number of new eagles born that year. We are grateful that our nest was successful. Earlier this month one of our 2005 eagles was killed on the road in Sullivan County.
The tag number of this beauty was S04
so...logically...we named her Sophie
Keep scrolling down & you'll see her as a grownup.
She even has fan clubs on various photo sites on the web.
WAY TO GO GIRL!!
On May 18, 2007 Scott Van Arsdale from the NY DEC banded a new arrival in our area nest. She was about 3 ½ weeks old and very healthy at the time of this picture. The March storms seemed to have affected the number of new eagles born that year. We are grateful that our nest was successful. Earlier this month one of our 2005 eagles was killed on the road in Sullivan County.
The tag number of this beauty was S04
so...logically...we named her Sophie
Keep scrolling down & you'll see her as a grownup.
She even has fan clubs on various photo sites on the web.
WAY TO GO GIRL!!
Our Bald Eagles
Since 2001 we have been thrilled by the sight of bald eagles on and about Goodyear Lake. There are three nesting pairs of bald eagles in Otsego County, and we are fortunate that one pair nests near our area. Scott Van Arsdale of the Department of Environmental Conservation has generously provided information about and photographs of our ravishing raptors.
Eagles in New York State
By 1976 New York had only one nesting pair of eagles in the state. There were no young eagles because the eggs would collapse before hatching. The DDT build up in the adult bodies led to thin egg shells that collapsed during incubation. In addition, more and more prime nesting areas were being taken over by development. Through an amazing effort the DEC biologists did two things to keep the eagles from extinction:
1) Hacking – young , non-native eagles brought here from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin and the US Fish & Wildlife Service captive breeding facility at Patuxent, Maryland were hand reared to independence and released. Later, young eagles from Alaska were brought to New York for hacking. The nesting pair in our area came here as a result of that hacking process.
2) Manipulation of the state's only remaining native pair to foster young. Biologists would remove the doomed eggs from the nest and substitute a captive-bred chick.
By 1989 there were 10 breeding pairs of eagles in the state. Today there are 80 nesting pairs, including the three in Otsego County. Our nesting pair chose our area.
You can read more about this amazing project of restoring eagles to New York State at: http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/wildlife/endspec/eaglerestore.html
Since 2001 we have been thrilled by the sight of bald eagles on and about Goodyear Lake. There are three nesting pairs of bald eagles in Otsego County, and we are fortunate that one pair nests near our area. Scott Van Arsdale of the Department of Environmental Conservation has generously provided information about and photographs of our ravishing raptors.
Eagles in New York State
By 1976 New York had only one nesting pair of eagles in the state. There were no young eagles because the eggs would collapse before hatching. The DDT build up in the adult bodies led to thin egg shells that collapsed during incubation. In addition, more and more prime nesting areas were being taken over by development. Through an amazing effort the DEC biologists did two things to keep the eagles from extinction:
1) Hacking – young , non-native eagles brought here from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin and the US Fish & Wildlife Service captive breeding facility at Patuxent, Maryland were hand reared to independence and released. Later, young eagles from Alaska were brought to New York for hacking. The nesting pair in our area came here as a result of that hacking process.
2) Manipulation of the state's only remaining native pair to foster young. Biologists would remove the doomed eggs from the nest and substitute a captive-bred chick.
By 1989 there were 10 breeding pairs of eagles in the state. Today there are 80 nesting pairs, including the three in Otsego County. Our nesting pair chose our area.
You can read more about this amazing project of restoring eagles to New York State at: http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/wildlife/endspec/eaglerestore.html
