It’s Throw Back Thursday…
Six years ago bald eagles were doing well in Pennsylvania with 140 active nests. Back then we knew it was only a matter of time before they’d be off Pennsylvania’s endangered list but we couldn’t imagine how quickly that would happen.
Who knew that by July 2014 we’d have 250 nests in Pennsylvania, three of them in Allegheny County, and one in Pittsburgh that’s internationally famous because of its webcam!
Click here or on the bald eagles’ photo above to go back in time to July 2008 when there were no eagles to watch at the Three Rivers Heritage Trail and far fewer eaglecams. At that time one of the famous eaglecams was at Norfolk Botanical Gardens where the pair had a Peyton Place year and an ailing eaglet.
After you read the 2008 Norfolk eagle story, you might be wondering what happened to the eaglet with avian pox. Nicknamed Buddy he lives in captivity because his beak grows in a deformed shape and must be trimmed once a month so he can eat. Though otherwise healthy, he would die in the wild without this treatment. He will never fly free.
(photo by Chuck Tague)
The eagles on Pittsburgh have been great to watch. I’m still amazed the environment has cleaned up enough to support them. Imagine there were three eaglets this year and they all made it.