The bald eagle, the nation’s once-endangered emblematic bird of prey, has been making a comeback.
Of the numerous bald eagle pairs that have been relocating from their densely populated Eastern Shore and Chesapeake Bay habitats in Virginia, one pair made its home this spring at Sugar Hollow Reservoir, says Marlene Condon, a local nature writer who documented and reported the discovery.
According to a prominent state conservationist, the nest at the reservoir may be the first one documented there. And per current state records, it would be the second documented bald eagle nest in all of Albemarle County.
While the nest Condon and her husband spotted earlier this year can no longer be found, she said, diligent bird watchers can still find an adult eagle and two juveniles around the reservoir during the early morning hours.
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“I’ve lived here for about 30 years and had never seen any [bald] eagles,” Condon said, detailing how she first noticed one at the reservoir in May.
She said she eventually spotted a nest and two juveniles across the nearly 70-year-old reservoir that meets the north and south fork of the Moormans River.
After Condon reported the nest to the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William & Mary and Virginia Commonwealth University, Bryan Watts, the center’s director, confirmed it’s the first documented bald eagle nest at the reservoir.
While historical documentation of the species west of Interstate 95 has been relatively lacking, as state surveys have focused primarily on the eagle population concentrated along the Chesapeake Bay, Watts said the discovery of a nest at Sugar Hollow is not surprising.
In the nearly 10 years since bald eagles were taken off the federal endangered and threatened species list, he said, eagle pairs have been colonizing near reservoirs and other bodies of water farther inland.
“It’s all related to an overflow of eagles in the Chesapeake Bay,” he said. “Even though we haven’t surveyed much toward out west, we can be fairly confident in saying this is a consistent pattern that small reservoirs throughout the Piedmont region have been colonized.”
“In the next decade or so, reservoirs of any size could have an eagle pair if there are nest-able trees nearby.”
Earlier this year, the CCB reported that the population of breeding bald eagle pairs — which mate for life and live for about 30 years — has doubled since 2007, documenting more than 1,070 pairs throughout the eastern half of the state.
Watts said the population boom is a complete recovery from where the species had been in the early 1970s, when there were just about 20 breeding pairs left in the state.
“I’d say we’re getting about 50 to 100 individual reports of nests every year now,” he said. “One of the great things about this recovery is that our general population is becoming more engaged with eagles … as we reach a critical mass and people see them more frequently.”
Primarily using annual survey data from the center’s annual bald eagle survey, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries maintains an interactive map of bald eagle nests throughout the state.
According to that map, the only other documented bald eagle nest in the area is south of the Glenmore subdivision in Keswick.
Jeff Trollinger, deputy director of the game department’s Bureau of Wildlife Resources, said most of the map’s data on nests west of I-95 are reliant on reports from naturalists, bird watchers and residents.
Trollinger said the annual CCB survey isn’t a fully comprehensive statewide study.
Regardless, he said he thinks there could be far more than just 1,000 breeding eagle pairs in the state, noting that it’s hard to document eagle nests in remote regions of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
“There’s no good way of knowing, but in the grand scheme of things … this is one of the greatest conservation success stories,” he said, noting that the federal ban on DDT and other pesticides and increased restrictions on hunting and trapping the birds have helped save the species from extinction.
Condon suspects that heavy rains and foul weather may have destroyed the nest sometime in early June. But throughout June and July, she would routinely see them and note the sightings.
Regardless of whether the eagles remain at the reservoir, Condon said she’s generally optimistic about her find and what it means.
“We need all plants and animals. I think that’s lost on people today,” she said. “I’m worried about our future.”
However, “this is a good sign for the environment. We didn’t let them go extinct. Not supporting them would have not been helpful for us.”
Chris Suarez is a reporter for The Daily Progress. Contact him at (434) 978-7274, csuarez@dailyprogress.com or @Suarez_CM on Twitter.