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Outdoors with Tom Venesky: Not reporting not an option

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Birders’ Corner

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<div class="neCaption">A bald eagle incubates two eggs during a March snowstorm, as its mate stands atop the snow in a nest near Hanover. The event, which was livestreamed on the Pennsylvania Game Commission&#8217;s Eagle Cam, drew national attention and helps to explain why the state&#8217;s bald eagles have been so successful in their comeback. So far this year, a record-high 277 nests have been documented statewide. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_Snow-eagles.jpg</photo0><caption0>A bald eagle incubates two eggs during a March snowstorm, as its mate stands atop the snow in a nest near Hanover. The event, which was livestreamed on the Pennsylvania Game Commission&#8217;s Eagle Cam, drew national attention and helps to explain why the state&#8217;s bald eagles have been so successful in their comeback. So far this year, a record-high 277 nests have been documented statewide. </caption0></div></div>
<p>It was a scene that warmed many hearts.</p><p>A bald eagle incubating two eggs in a falling snow, unwilling to budge as the nest turned white. As the flakes piled high, the bird was blanketed. Only its head could been seen, periscoping above the snow.</p><p>The images captured in early March on the Pennsylvania Game Commission&#8217;s Eagle Cam spotlighted the sacrifices parents make, and showed a great deal about the resilience of bald eagles, and why they have been so successful in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.</p><p>And as the Game Commission releases its annual mid-year report on bald-eagle nests statewide, the preliminary numbers represent an all-time high.</p><p>So far this year, 277 bald-eagle nests have been documented in Pennsylvania, with nesting eagles present in at least 58 of the state&#8217;s 67 counties.</p><p>That shatters the 2014 preliminary number of 254 nests, which also was an all-time high. And more nests remain to be counted as the year goes on.</p><p>&#8220;Like many Pennsylvanians, I remember a time when bald eagles were absent just about everywhere in the state, and it truly is astonishing how things have turned around,&#8221; Game Commission Executive Director R. Matthew Hough said. &#8220;Through our reintroduction program, our protection of eagles and effective management, we&#8217;ve gone from three nests statewide to what soon could be 300, all within the span of my career with the Game Commission.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s an accomplishment of which all Pennsylvanians can be proud,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Of the nests reported so far this year, 20 are new, which could mean they were built and used for the first time this year or, if they existed previously, they were reported for the first time this year.</p><p>The Game Commission urges all eagle nests be reported.</p><p>Even if nests were reported in a previous year, it&#8217;s important to report them again if they were used again this year, said Patti Barber, a biologist with the Game Commission&#8217;s Endangered and Nongame Birds section.</p><p>People who have reported a nest as active in a previous year might not realize they should report back each year to help the Game Commission track the population over time, Barber said.</p><p>It&#8217;s one of the challenges of documenting bald-eagle nests as the population of eagles continues to grow. Also, folks might assume bald eagles they&#8217;re seeing are associated with long-established nests, as opposed to new pairs setting up territories near established nests, Barber said.</p><p>Reports of bald-eagle nests always are appreciated. Perhaps the easiest way to report a nest is to contact the Game Commission through its public comments email address: pgccomments@pa.gov, and use the words &#8220;Eagle Nest Information&#8221; in the subject field. Reports also can be phoned in to a Game Commission Region Office or the Harrisburg headquarters.</p><p>&#8220;Even if nests are well known locally, please don&#8217;t hesitate to report them,&#8221; Barber said. &#8220;You might be adding a new nest to the list, or making certain that one reported in a previous year is accurately counted this year.&#8221;</p><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @tlsports.</shirttailMeta></div>

Record number of eagle nests in Pennsylvania