BIRDS: Eagles galore
February 29, 2008
For more than two months, I have been seeing eagles along the Hackensack River in Teaneck and Hackensack when I run at lunch.
I reported in The Record when a Christmas bird Count in Bergen County tallied 30 bald eagles in December, but it was only recently that I got a chance to write something on the incredible number of eagles in North Jersey.
In The Record today, I have an interview with NJ Audubon's Pete Dunne, who is an expert on raptors.
Here is the link.
On the day I took the pictures on this post, I had hoped to see a bald eagle. I ended up seeing three in the same tree in Hackensack's Foschini Park.
Click "Continue reading" below for more...
The adult stood out so much you could see his white head with the naked eye from across the river.
I see eagles so often now that it should not be a big deal -- but these
birds are the national emblem, and they were almost extinct, and now I
see them a couple of times a week.
In Teaneck and Hackensack.
There have been less-frequents ightings at the Celery Farm as well.
Amazing.
If you want to see them in Teaneck/Hackensack, go to the north side of Terhune Park on River Road in Teaneck.
If you try to see them in Hackensack, they will just fly across the
river, and if they are bothered too often, they will find another perch
where they won't be seen as easily.
In the interview, Pete Dunne explains why this is so...
The eagle population in these parts will drop in the next few weeks as the adults return to their breeding grounds in the north.
By the way, did I mention there were several common mergansers swimming nearby the eagles? Not bad for a lunch-hour run.
This is only the beginning of this incredible comeback.