It's a Good Day When You See a Bald Eagle

BY STEVE BIASETTI, GROUP FOR THE EAST END DIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

bald eagle

The standard is simple: any day in which I see a bald eagle is a good day. A recent Saturday certainly met the criteria. In the early afternoon I spied two adult bald eagles, sporting white heads and tails, lazily circling above the Peconic River near Riverhead’s Main Street. A few hours later, for good measure, a third eagle – a mostly brown sub-adult – cruised overhead in Calverton.

Citing my principle, there have been quite a few “good days” of late. In fact, in the first four months of 2020 I’ve spotted no less than two-dozen bald eagles over 17 different days. These sightings have taken place throughout eastern Long Island, including Orient, Greenport, Southold, and Riverhead on the North Fork, and Accabonac Harbor, Hook Pond, Sagaponack, Bridgehampton, Hampton Bays, and Quogue on Peconic Bay’s south side. 

The bald eagle’s current regular status is a recent phenomenon on the East End. Two decades ago, a bald eagle sighting would have been a big deal. As anecdotal evidence, I refer to my nature notes: I tallied less than a dozen bald eagle sightings on eastern Long Island between 1990 and 2005. My records show an increase in eagle occurrences locally starting around 2008, with an elevated bump in the species’ presence around 2013. Since the beginning of 2018, I have seen bald eagles in 25 of the 28 months (missing just May 2018, March and July 2019).

The Quogue-Water Mill Christmas Bird Count (CBC) provides similar evidence. This avian survey has taken place every December since 1949, covering the same 15-mile diameter circle between Quogue and Water Mill each year. Bald eagles were seen just four times on the Quogue-Water Mill CBC from 1949 through 2008. They have been recorded every year since then, 11 consecutive years and counting!

There’s no denying the encouraging fact: bald eagles are becoming a regular part of our local ecology. That’s a good thing, and hopefully will lead to many “good days” in the future.

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