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em --Apple-Mail=_787F2748-ECBE-4F7D-8444-A6B285E33C5E Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 I have lots of comments based on the popular dialogue that has sprung up = on N.S. bald eagles, but for now I will just make a few. Back when I = arrived in N.S. in 1975, most of the province=92s bald eagles nested in = Cape Breton along the shores of the Bras D=92Or Lake(s), especially = where streams emptied into the =93lakes=94 and had runs of fishes for = spawning like the smelts mentioned? This core population of eagles was = pretty free of the DDT problem, at least in the warm months, because of = the lack of industrial agriculture in Cape Breton. =20 I found John=92s comment about eagles vs. ospreys to be very = interesting. There is a mine of information to be analyzed in the two = Maritimes Breeding Bird Atlases that were done 20 years apart, both for = the eagles and for ospreys. The expansion of the eagle population and = the growth in the nesting population were undoubtedly related to the = increased winter survival of eagles via the artificial feeding of = agricultural carrion. I wonder what other factors were involved over = the decades. The history of our annual pseudoscientific counts of eagles and other = raptors showed a huge increase in wintering numbers in the early 1990s, = when over two years the total number jumped up by 300 birds!! Since = then the total numbers bounce around, up and down, probably for = weather-related reasons, above and below an average of ca. 350-400 = eagles in eastern King=92s County. =20 Again historically, back in the 1970s there were one or two bald eagle = nests in the Black River Lake area, and a few more on hydroelectric = reservoirs near Windsor. But it was not until 1991 that we recorded a = bald eagle nest locally in The Valley, at Noggins Farm in Greenwich. = Since then the nesting population has grown steadily, but we have no = handle on numbers of nests, and that growth may have slowed or stopped =97= no data. Also no data exist on what our nesting eagles are feeding = their eaglets, although eagles are excellent fishers and foragers for = other stuff, mostly? dead? I wonder how much agricultural carrion is = available to the eagles and how many of them take advantage of such =97 = here is a case for strict regulations from DNR and/or the organized = poultry producers. The last thing I will add here is again historical. Regarding eagles = vs. mergansers: Back in the 1970s, I learned from DNR + Peter = Austin-Smith Sr. + Merritt Gibson that a concentration site for = wintering bald eagles was the intertidal stretch of the lower = Shubenacadie River, where tomcod spawn in winter months. The tomcod in = turn attract common mergansers in numbers. The eagles learned that = those adult (and immature) mergansers were easily hunted there when = there was a lot of ice present with small areas of open water between = the floes. It was full-size common mergansers, which are big birds, = especially males, that were being hunted. And I never heard about = eagles going after the fish that the mergansers may have caught. End of comments for now.=20 Cheers from Jim in Wolfville. Begin forwarded message: > From: "Laviolette, Lance" <lance.laviolette@lmco.com> > Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Re: Bald Eagles in NS > Date: February 5, 2016 at 2:16:12 PM AST > To: "naturens@chebucto.ns.ca" <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca> > Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca >=20 > Hi Ken, > =20 > In case you=92re worried about a size issue, Bald Eagles are capable = of killing adult Canada Geese and Great Blue Herons (according to the = literature) so an adult merganser or loon wouldn=92t be stretching it. = As you know though, they are probably better scavengers or predators of = sick and/or injured individuals then active hunters of healthy birds. > =20 > I was surprised to read Donna=92s comments that their hunting pressure = was driving loons off of NS lakes. If this is the case I guess that = repeated attempts to capture a loon, even if they failed each time, = would eventually cause a bird to move to a more friendly location. > =20 > All the best, > =20 > Lance > =20 > =20 > =20 > On February 5, 2016 at 10:06 AM Ken McKenna <kenmcken@eastlink.ca> = wrote: >=20 > I wonder Paul if the eagle is trying to steal a fish from the = Merganser rather than to try and take the merganser -unless you were = speaking of small young mergansers. Interesting the male is observed = being attacked most often.=20 > Cheers > Ken =20 >=20 > Sent from my iPad =20 --Apple-Mail=_787F2748-ECBE-4F7D-8444-A6B285E33C5E Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=windows-1252 <html><head><meta http-equiv=3D"Content-Type" content=3D"text/html = charset=3Dwindows-1252"></head><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; = -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;">I have = lots of comments based on the popular dialogue that has sprung up on = N.S. bald eagles, but for now I will just make a few. Back when I = arrived in N.S. in 1975, most of the province=92s bald eagles nested in = Cape Breton along the shores of the Bras D=92Or Lake(s), especially = where streams emptied into the =93lakes=94 and had runs of fishes for = spawning like the smelts mentioned? This core population of eagles = was pretty free of the DDT problem, at least in the warm months, because = of the lack of industrial agriculture in Cape Breton. = <div><br></div><div>I found John=92s comment about eagles vs. = ospreys to be very interesting. There is a mine of information to = be analyzed in the two Maritimes Breeding Bird Atlases that were done 20 = years apart, both for the eagles and for ospreys. The expansion of = the eagle population and the growth in the nesting population were = undoubtedly related to the increased winter survival of eagles via the = artificial feeding of agricultural carrion. I wonder what other = factors were involved over the decades.</div><div><br></div><div>The = history of our annual pseudoscientific counts of eagles and other = raptors showed a huge increase in wintering numbers in the early 1990s, = when over two years the total number jumped up by 300 birds!! = Since then the total numbers bounce around, up and down, probably = for weather-related reasons, above and below an average of ca. 350-400 = eagles in eastern King=92s County. </div><div><br></div><div>Again = historically, back in the 1970s there were one or two bald eagle nests = in the Black River Lake area, and a few more on hydroelectric reservoirs = near Windsor. But it was not until 1991 that we recorded a bald = eagle nest locally in The Valley, at Noggins Farm in Greenwich. = Since then th