I just got back from meeting some friends in Blaine, WA. Bald eagles hanging out everywhere.
America’s bald eagle population continues to soar
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Re: America’s bald eagle population continues to soar
#132Earlier quoted context omitted.
You've been watching too many movies then! https://youtu.be/PQ2uMauyBow?t=35 I was doing some trail building this last fall and there was a red tailed hawk nest across the valley. It was pretty amazing to hear that classic "eagle" call every now and again while working.
I'm fairly certain that GP was making a joke.
I assumed as much, but wanted to provide info to people who might not be aware while also making a bit of a joke myself.
Re: America’s bald eagle population continues to soar
#133I find it amusing the article had to clarify the lower 48 states. In the majority of the United States bald eagles are a rare and majestic sight. In Alaska they are on par with seagulls.
Can confirm. In Juneau the best place to find them between salmon runs is near the landfill.
Years ago, we were shooing a documentary in Valdez and needed the quintessential bald eagle shot. After looking everywhere, we asked the locals where to find them. They said the dump. We got our shots.
Re: America’s bald eagle population continues to soar
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
If I'm reading their survey correctly, those states have relatively few bald eagles. The reason I checked is that I also remember seeing them often in SD, but was never sure if it was a bald eagle or my parents didn't know/were lying to me. I'm still unsure, they exist but I've never seen a flock like that picture posted here.
Last I checked, Minnesota had the largest population in the lower 48. I personally see them all the time.
The survey details are very confusing, the terms change from the legend to the table, but I did not notice that the border chosen seperates Minnesota from the Dakotas. The Dakotas have relatively few I meant.
Re: America’s bald eagle population continues to soar
#135This remind me of a PlanetMoney episode from a while ago > https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2017/02/03/513302816/epis... > Over time, though, Harris's worldview changed. He started to see the downside to the industrial farming ... To replace the chemical fertilizer, he brought in chickens and let them roam free. Free-range chickens would fertilize the grass; the grass would nurture the cattle, and shoppers at Whole…
Can he use drones to scare them? Making noise and lights etc not kinetic force.
Eagles can take down small drones that invade their airspace. They are also used to being mobbed by smaller birds.
Eagles have actually been trialled as an anti-drone defence [0]. Although this isn't actually a good idea in the long run. A serious attacker could flood an eagle with a drone swarm, or make drones (e.g. explody, sharper blades) designed to hurt / kill eagles. It also takes considerable time and patience to train an eagle compared with the ease with which drones can be replaced.
Re: America’s bald eagle population continues to soar
#136I was rafting in Montana last summer and we got the treat of seeing several osprey and eagles during our trip. Such cool birds of prey!
Re: America’s bald eagle population continues to soar
#137While not related to the bald eagle population rise, which has been going up for over a decade, I heard a theory about third and fourth order effects of the pandemic that involved rise in predator species like eagles.
Basically, with fewer cars on the road for a large stretch of last spring, small critter populations would boom since automobile death is one of the leading modern causes of death in young critters.
With the population of small animals on the rise, predators would have more accessible food sources allowing their populations to rise over the following years.
I have no idea how this is holding up or whether its based in reality but I found it an interesting way to think about unintended consequences of a large shift in the modern way of living.
Re: America’s bald eagle population continues to soar
#138This remind me of a PlanetMoney episode from a while ago > https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2017/02/03/513302816/epis... > Over time, though, Harris's worldview changed. He started to see the downside to the industrial farming ... To replace the chemical fertilizer, he brought in chickens and let them roam free. Free-range chickens would fertilize the grass; the grass would nurture the cattle, and shoppers at Whole…
Near the end of that podcast they talk about how Will Harris had evolved his farm to make money off the new flock of eagles that come to the farm:
> "But Will is resourceful, you know. He keeps trying to cross that gap. At one point as we're driving around the farm, we're next to this field with some chickens in it. And there's a pickup truck coming the other way. Will stops the Jeep to talk to the driver of the truck...."
> "In the bed of the truck, there's a guy with a camera with this giant telephoto lens, which is apparently pretty common. People now come to Will's farm to see the eagles. He had this special Eagle Day a few days before I was there. He's even built cabins for people to rent out."
Re: America’s bald eagle population continues to soar
#139I find it amusing the article had to clarify the lower 48 states. In the majority of the United States bald eagles are a rare and majestic sight. In Alaska they are on par with seagulls.
Tangentially, why do Americans call their middle 48 states the "lower 48"? Alaska is north of them and Hawaii is south of them. Does "lower" mean "east" somehow? If lower meant south as on a map, the actual lower 48 would be everything except Alaska and Minnesota.
Re: America’s bald eagle population continues to soar
#140While not related to the bald eagle population rise, which has been going up for over a decade, I heard a theory about third and fourth order effects of the pandemic that involved rise in predator species like eagles. Basically, with fewer cars on the road for a large stretch of last spring, small critter populations would boom since automobile death is one of the leading modern causes of death in young critters. Wit…
Not sure about in the US but here in NZ, birds of prey such as Australasian Harriers thrive by eating roadkill. It's common to round a corner and find one struggling to take off from the carcass it is eating in the middle of the road.