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d This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0665_01D15FA0.69D66780 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable It was timely to read Jim=E2=80=99s report on =E2=80=9CEagle Watch = Weekend One=E2=80=9D (sounds like a movie title...American, of course) = and James=E2=80=99 follow-up comments. This evening I watched The = Nature of Things documentary on the Vancouver Bald Eagle population, = which is soaring in numbers mainly due to a large landfill and an = expanding human population (but began a more modest recovery earlier on = after the abandonment of DDT and changes in the earlier human customs of = shooting them as ill-regarded =E2=80=98vermin=E2=80=99, not unlike the = history of eagle persecution on the east coast). My point is that = their populations are soaring presently due to food supplementation. =20 =20 Our Annapolis Valley eagle population is food-supplemented from = industrial poultry practices, as we are all aware. What harm is there = in that? It has generated tourism dollars, and it gets people out to = see nature in the wintertime. All wonderful. =20 It now appears that the Common loon may be falling under new predation = pressures as this large and expanding NS eagle population finds new = places to nest. They seem to be increasingly pushed to less productive = areas to nest, such as nutrient-poor lakes in southwest Nova Scotia. = (No scientific data to back this up, but it would make a good thesis.) = Cottage owners are documenting notable increases in eagle sightings, = including eye witness accounts of eagles attacking loon chicks. One = such story was reported to me again yesterday from a lake near = Caledonia. Still another report came from Sandy Bottom Lake last = September where an eagle repeatedly attacked a juvenile loon. The young = loon was forced to continuously dive to avoid the attacks, but = apparently survived. They stand much less chance when they are younger = and cannot dive for long periods. Other loon chicks were not as = fortunate last year. =20 Where is the natural balance? What is a =E2=80=98natural = balance=E2=80=99 in this present day world? When does population = recovery cross the threshold to become = =E2=80=98hyper-abundance=E2=80=99? What would the carrying capacity = of winter eagles be in Kings County without poultry producers? They = would presumably be focused on open-water food sources and the = occasional farm carcass. =20 =20 Having said this, Eagle Watch Weekends are positive natural history = events (though they could be carried out with fewer birds), and it is = also important to continue to survey numbers (of both eagles and loons). = Thanks to Jim for taking a leadership role for so many years in eagle = watches and eagle population counts. (I=E2=80=99ll keep counting loons = and we=E2=80=99ll continue to compare notes occasionally.) =20 Meanwhile, my vote is for mandatory use of rendering plants (enforced by = the Dept of Agriculture and/or DNR) for safe disposal of poultry that = has died of questionable causes in those large =E2=80=98factory = barns=E2=80=99. And maybe eat more free-range, =E2=80=98happy=E2=80=99 = chickens(?) =20 Donna Crossland =20 From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca = [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of James Churchill Sent: February-04-16 10:46 AM To: naturens Subject: [NatureNS] Re: Bald Eagles in NS =20 Jim's comment below about artificial winter feeding of Bald Eagles (et = al.) might have gone unnoticed at the end of his message there, but it = is a worthy question: =20 Lots has changed since Bald Eagle populations were low in the 70s, and = it's worth evaluating (again) impacts of artificial feeding on wintering = eagles, our breeding eagle population and any impacts on other wildlife = as a result. =20 james. =20 =20 On Tue, Feb 2, 2016 at 5:56 PM, Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> = wrote: =20 From: Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> Subject: report on SHEFFIELD MILLS EAGLE WATCH WEEKEND ONE (long) Date: February 2, 2016 at 4:55:30 PM AST To: Nature BNS <nature@blomidonnaturalists.ca> Cc: Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> =20 JAN. 30-31, 2016 [Sat.-Sun.] - SHEFFIELD MILLS EAGLE WATCH =E2=80=94 = Both days had very mild temperatures, above +10 C., and light winds, = plus perhaps 15 cm. of fresh snow on Sat. morning. The fresh snow = should have helped in getting eagles to feeding locations, and = conditions were great for gawkers to stand around and wait for action = there, but Saturday was nearly a total bust for the Eagle Watch (and = Sunday wasn=E2=80=99t much better).=20 =20 As usual, on Sat. there were a few dozen cars at the feeding site at the = north end of Middle Dyke Road, but the biggest number of bald eagles = there was 11 (others may have seen more), and all they did was sit in = the trees with very little flying around and little or no going after = the ample supply of cut-up large pieces of chicken carrion (the daily = small proportion of the chicken-barn population that dies each night).=20 =20 The landscape was gorgeous on Sat. morning, with all the new-fallen snow = on the trees, bushes, and ground. I=E2=80=99m sure that = Fri./Sat.=E2=80=99s snow deterred a lot of people from driving anywhere = on Sat. On my way out to Sheffield Mills, I saw 8+ eagles at Church St. = & Hwy. 358, and another 6 at Saxon Street Pond (where there were 18 all = perched together on Sunday). =20 =20 Frustrated photographers on both days found other groups of perched = eagles in other parts of eastern King=E2=80=99s County, where dead = chickens are offered by other poultry producers, but all of this is no = different this year. Thus a certain amount of searching/driving around = is necessary, plus revisiting sites.=20 =20 I cannot explain the small numbers of eagles on Sat., nor their apparent = lack of hunger. The carcasses on the ground were also not attracting = the ravens or crows or great black-backed gulls. Some gulls and ravens = were finally attracted on Sun. afternoon. =20 Sunday was about the same at the main site in the morning, with low = numbers of perched eagles and no feeding activity by them, but now there = were many, many more cars and gawkers and quite a traffic jam = (predictable). Mostly there were only a dozen or so eagles, but then in = the afternoon a bunch more flew into the area, so that by 2 p.m. I = counted at least 40 eagles, most of them perched in groups like = ornaments in the trees. Also by then there was a fair amount of flying = back and forth across the big field. I didn=E2=80=99t see any eagles = grabbing food from the ground, but a few eagles in the trees had = carcasses and were feeding. One feeding eagle that was just west of the = road attracted a lot of photographers who had to walk through the snow = to approach it. =20 Sunday was a much better day at the community hall in terms of parked = cars and