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Two are spotted in southern Summit
By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Saturday, Mar 14, 2009
Once nearly gone from Northeast Ohio, the bald eagle population has rejuvenated to the point that they are raising safety concerns at the region's busiest airport.
Four birds have been spotted at Cleveland Hopkins Airport 18 times since December. A dark-headed juvenile eagle was seen flying down the center stripe of one of the runways.
They are part of a record number of eagles in Ohio this year, including two that have taken up residence in southern Summit County near Nimisila Reservoir, three miles from Akron-Canton Airport and in a common flight path for commercial jets.
The two adult and two juvenile birds spotted at Hopkins don't appear bothered by incoming and outgoing jets, said Damon Greer of the Ohio Division of Wildlife.
They have been spotted in trees at the end of runways in the path of planes, he said.
While they tend to hunt over lakes, bald eagles can cover thousands of acres and they've been known to fly to altitudes of more than 10,000 feet.
They are large birds, weighing 10 to 14 pounds, and have wingspans up to 7 feet.
In comparison, the Canada goose — blamed for the Hudson-River crash-landing
of an Airbus A320 in January — has a wingspan up to 6 feet and a mature bird generally weighs about 10 pounds.
Hopkins officials have been working with wildlife biologists to harass the eagles without injuring them, to ensure that plane passengers are safe, said airport spokeswoman Jacqueline Mayo.
Airport crews have used pyrotechnics, which are vehicles with flashing lights and sirens to scare the eagles off airport grounds, and the eagles are being closely monitored.
They appear unfazed.
The two adults were spotted in the midst of courting, but there is no evidence of a nest on airport grounds or in the adjoining Cleveland Metroparks' Rocky River Reservation.
Greer said the eagles, if they are to mate and raise young this year, will have until about early April to build a nest.
Several nests have been found near the airport but are being used by large hawks, he said. However, eagles have been known to occupy hawk nests.
There have been 145 collisions between bald eagles and planes from 1990 through 2007 in the United States and Canada, according to data from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The leading places of collision are Alaska, 45; Florida, 32; and British Columbia, 29. Ohio had none reported. Michigan, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and California each had one strike. Minnesota had three and Washington had four.
Nest at Nimisila
The nest in southern Summit County is in a large white pine at Christman and Killinger roads near the 672-acre Nimisila Reservoir in Green, Greer said.
Eagles mate for life but aren't successful each year in raising young. It is possible eagles used the nest as early as 2006, but their presence wasn't confirmed until 2007. Eagles typically return to the nests they used the previous year and add sticks to them. They build new nests if the old ones fall, or if the birds are scared away by human activity.
In 2008, there was no sign they used the nest, although eagles were seen around the reservoir.
Although apparently unsuccessful in laying eggs those years, they became the first nesting eagles in Summit County in decades. There have been successful nests in Portage, Stark, Wayne and Cuyahoga counties.
In Medina County, an eagles' nest has been confirmed in a Westfield Township woodlot on the southwest corner of the 330-acre lake on land owned by the Medina County Park District.
In Portage County, there are two eagles at a nest on an island in Wingfoot Lake in Suffield Township, but there is no evidence of eggs yet.
At present, there is one active eagle nest in Cuyahoga County in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Brecksville.
The eagles built a nest in the Pinery Narrows area along the Cuyahoga River north of state Route 82 in Cleveland Metroparks' Brecksville Reservation.
This is the third successive year the eagles have nested in the 33,000-acre federal park.
There are also active eagle nests at Walborn Reservoir in Marlboro Township in northern Stark County and along Tinkers Creek in Aurora, said Andrea Tibbels of the Ohio Division of Wildlife.
The state has no information about nests near Lake Rockwell near Kent and along Breakneck Creek in Portage County, Tibbels said.
One eagle nest in Killbuck Marsh in southern Wayne County is inactive this year and a second one has come down.
Record numbers
Ohio is looking at potential records for eagle nests and eaglets in 2009, Tibbels said.
Ohio confirmed 26 new eagle nests in 2009, boosting the statewide total to 210.
Ohio had 184 nests in 2008, producing a record 222 eaglets. Eagles are thriving in Lake Erie wetlands and are moving inland in increasing numbers.
In 1979, Ohio had only four eagle nests. This was because of loss of habitat and use of the pesticide DDT.
The bald eagle is a threatened species in Ohio, but it has been dropped from the federal endangered and threatened list.
Ohioans can report eagle nests by going to http://www.wildohio.com.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
Once nearly gone from Northeast Ohio, the bald eagle population has rejuvenated to the point that they are raising safety concerns at the region's busiest airport.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 02:21 AM, 03/14/2009
Good story. I live in Hartville with 4 Acres. 25 Acres bound the property. The Eagles from Walborn were here 2 weeks ago and were amazing. They stand almost 3 feet tall. When they flew in every bird ( hawks included ) were gone. They were gone in 30 seconds. But a memory anyway.
Posted 08:02 AM, 03/14/2009
I saw one flying in the Arlington St. area of South Akron. It was awesome.
Posted 08:43 AM, 03/14/2009
my friend lives on portage lakes and she see`s
them quite often!!!
Akron, OH
Posted 09:08 AM, 03/14/2009
((chucklin')) I read "soarin' eagle" and thought a casino had opened up at the airport.
Let's hope the birds and the aircraft never mix.
Posted 09:14 AM, 03/14/2009
A golden eagle flew across the road in front of me as I was going over the meander resevoir bridge on Rt 80.
Akron, OH
Posted 09:54 AM, 03/14/2009
we really making a progress. gettin' there like in star trek movie. all for the better for humankind. gettin' excited. who know we might make warp flight very soon. Ohhh yeah! Like I said we are met to be better than we are. We are restless and we suppose to be and we're getting much smarter than we every gonna be. Cheese whiz, even within a generation.
Akron, Oh
Posted 09:01 PM, 03/14/2009
Just saw one of 'em perched ona dead tree branch in a flooded area of Hudfson last week. Really cool to see one so close, a ranger said that it was probably from one of the nests in the Metro Parks.
Bedford, Oh
Posted 09:09 PM, 11/07/2009
A group of 16 golfers spotted an eagle flying overhead. The eagle then pearched in a tall tree for about three minutes.Some of the golfers got within a 150 feet of the bird and took pictures with their cell phones. It took off from the tree and flew away from us and then turned back towards us and gave us a fly over. It was an awesome sight. We were playing at Powderhorn G.C. in Madison,Ohio,near I-90 East& Rte. 528.
