State checks out eagle population

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

A one-day, statewide survey of wintering bald eagles yielded 70 sightings, a statistic experts are attributing to a collaborative effort to study the birds and protect their habitat.

Each year, between 40 and 50 state and federal wildlife officials and numerous volunteers travel to nearly a dozen locations from Newburyport to Pittsfield to contribute to a survey of the national bald eagle population.

The preliminary statewide number for 2009 is 70 eagles, including 48 adults and 22 juveniles. The largest population of which, 26, resides at the Quabbin Reservoir. Although the survey recorded three less eagles than in 2008, the number was higher than the 48 seen in 2007.

Locally, there were 17 adult and nine juvenile eagles spotted at Quabbin and another 14 adults and three juveniles making their home along the banks of the Connecticut River.

According to Tom French, assistant director of the Division of Fishery and Wildlife, although they are listed as endangered in Massachusetts, national increases in the bald eagle population - currently between 13,000 and 16,000 - has resulted in their being removed from the federal endangered species list.

"Massachusetts is a relatively small state, so the bald eagle population is small in comparison to other states in the country," said French. "But there are currently more living in Massachusetts than in any other state in New England, other than Maine."

French said during the annual survey, officials travel four standardized routes along various locations known to have bald eagle nests. The routes include stops at the Quabbin Reservoir, the Connecticut River, the Merrimack River and the Lakeville Ponds Complex. In recent years, he said, the donation of a National Grid helicopter has dramatically helped in the search for nests.

"The thing that really gets us going is that helicopter," said French. "If you try to follow the Connecticut River or Quabbin Reservoir by road you are going to see some bald eagles, but if you get in a helicopter and fly over those locations, you can get a much better idea of where they are living and how many there are."

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.