OT: Speaking of birds

[vtcwbuff]

Any other CT residents seeing bald eagles on a regular basis? We have lived in SE CT for 30 years and for the 1st time we are seeing eagles. Last week we watched one chasing a large hawk over our back yard. It was the third time we've seen an eagle from our deck this summer. After the hawk left the eagle circled the yard twice just a few feet above our roofline. My wife thinks it was eyeing her cat which was in the yard.

Of course we were so excited we forgot to take a picture.

 

[Icebear]

There are supposed 200 or 200 nesting pairs on the Connecticut River. I can't remember which it is.

Here in PA we have 6-10 nests in the county.

 

[ChicagoGG]

A mature pair and a youngster zipping around the CT River in Cromwell. Stayed over since last winter. Also nesting pairs in Glastonbury in the river meadows.

 

[pinotbear]

vtc, rumor has it that there have been nesting eagles on at least one of the town reservoirs in SE CT for at least a few years. But, since the folks who manage the water supplies don't want folks trespassing, nor harassing the eagles, they keep it quiet. I've seen an eagle around Old Saybrook in early October (playing "tag" with an osprey, over I-95), and south of Worcester over the Pike a few times over the past few winters. So, they're out there, but, I do agree that a summer sighting is pretty significant.

 

[2ndCity]

When I lived in New Fairfield, CT (1976-2002), there was a protected Eagle area around the Shepaug Dam on the Housatanic River, near Southbury. They allowed visitors in, on appointment only during the winter, to witness those magnificent Bald Eagles that often nested nearby, in order to fish the swirling waters at the unfrozen bottom of the dam.

I made it a point to experience such majesty each new year. And once, I watched two
Red Tailed Hawks attack a lone Bald Eagle who had apparently flown too close to their
nest. The larger, but much slower Eagle did literally dozens of swooping twists and turns
all the way down the Housatonic to avoid the faster, but smaller and very determined Hawk's talons.

The Eagle finally escaped. This remains one of my fondest memories of life in CT.

 

[ThisJustIn]

My fellow birders who have been birding the NY area since the 70's recall when seeing an eagle along the Hudson was a rare sighting. Now, thanks to conservation efforts/DDT ban, they're "dripping" off the trees.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Any other CT residents seeing bald eagles on a regular basis? We have lived in SE CT for 30 years and for the 1st time we are seeing eagles. Last week we watched one chasing a large hawk over our back yard. It was the third time we've seen an eagle from our deck this summer. After the hawk left the eagle circled the yard twice just a few feet above our roofline. My wife thinks it was eyeing her cat which was in the yard.

Of course we were so excited we forgot to take a picture.

Live in the area also, Buff. Eagles have been around the Thames for a little while, mostly spotted near the Mohegan Sun area. The osprey population has increased and noticed a huge increase in the local cardinal population the last couple of years. More and more robins have been wintering here too.

 

[Beemer]

I live in NE CT. Plenty of Canadian geese around, we have six pairs that stay to raise their young every year. Two herons as well. Lots of turkeys the past few years too. Only one eagle sighting- my mother saw a young eagle sitting in a tree in their backyard a few years ago. He must have been resting because she never saw him again.

 

[Icebear]

Connecticut River Eagle Watch Festival LINK

and

Eagle Watch Trips LINK

 

[vtcwbuff]

I found this guy in my fireplace last fall. I think it's a barred owl, about 18-20" tall.