Bald Eagle sighting

BambamNJ

Scout
Sep 14, 2008
34
0
Waterford, NJ
Stafford Forge.... absolutely incredible! Wish I had my camera! The last bald eagle I saw in the wild was in Alaska! All the more reason to preserve the pines in So Ocean Co.
 

whippoorbill

Explorer
Jul 29, 2003
675
121
65
Bridgeton
Stafford Forge.... absolutely incredible! Wish I had my camera! The last bald eagle I saw in the wild was in Alaska! All the more reason to preserve the pines in So Ocean Co.

Keep looking! You'll probably see more. Not so long ago, I looked out my back window and saw this couple perched upon a tree on our property. We occasionally see this pair flying over the lake we live near.



Bald eagles have made quite a comeback. One only hopes this holds true.

I'm heading to the bay this afternoon, and I see bald eagles there often, too -- hoping to spot some more today. As you describe, they are incredible (and beautiful!).

Bill
 

Aaron

Explorer
Jul 29, 2007
171
0
Saw one outside of Camden 2 years ago, right off Newton Lake. Was in my back yard eating a fish ( will post pic later).

Now that i live in Salem County i see them alot. Few weeks ago there where two in a field in Elsinboro about 200 yards from about 25 deer, was a hell of a sight.
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,181
I took an exhausting bike ride with Rob from work last night, and we went on a trial into the woods in Runnemede along 42 near 55 and what we believe to be a Bald Eagle passed overhead.

Guy
 
Apr 6, 2004
3,607
551
Galloway
Last Summer, there were a pair of bal eagles that hung around the Forks of the Mullica. I saw them just about everyday. I only spotted one this year, and have been wondering why. I heard that a pair of bald eagles were shot "locally" and that they are in a zoo (Cape May, if I recall) recovering. Shot. Can you believe that?
 

grendel

Explorer
Feb 24, 2006
561
2
Fredericksburg VA
Last Summer, there were a pair of bal eagles that hung around the Forks of the Mullica. I saw them just about everyday. I only spotted one this year, and have been wondering why. I heard that a pair of bald eagles were shot "locally" and that they are in a zoo (Cape May, if I recall) recovering. Shot. Can you believe that?

Wish I could say that I could not believe it. Down here the good old boys will brag about shooting birds of prey (not around me anymore) they see them as hunting competition. In fact they shoot most everything they see. I saw a t-shirt at a sporting goods store once that said " rednecks, keeping the woods clean of critters since 1865" I hate to say but it is true. I love hunting but not the way they do it.
 

MuckSavage

Explorer
Apr 1, 2005
597
218
56
Turnersville
I took an exhausting bike ride with Rob from work last night, and we went on a trial into the woods in Runnemede along 42 near 55 and what we believe to be a Bald Eagle passed overhead.

Guy

Yesterday, while working at the Gloucester Twp Compost Facility (across Timber Creek from Runnemede/Glendora) I looked up & whatdoyaknow......an eagle! After he took off from the cell tower, I watched him fly over Timber Creek for about an hour.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0193.jpg
    IMG_0193.jpg
    171.3 KB · Views: 340

professor yahaak

New Member
Oct 22, 2008
22
0
51
Wish I could say that I could not believe it. Down here the good old boys will brag about shooting birds of prey (not around me anymore) they see them as hunting competition. In fact they shoot most everything they see. I saw a t-shirt at a sporting goods store once that said " rednecks, keeping the woods clean of critters since 1865" I hate to say but it is true. I love hunting but not the way they do it.


I don't care for hunting personally but have respect for and understand The Hunt. On the other hand, hearing about these kinds of folks makes me wish they'd shoot their own feet off way out in the middle of the woods.
 

professor yahaak

New Member
Oct 22, 2008
22
0
51
Last Summer, there were a pair of bal eagles that hung around the Forks of the Mullica. I saw them just about everyday. I only spotted one this year, and have been wondering why. I heard that a pair of bald eagles were shot "locally" and that they are in a zoo (Cape May, if I recall) recovering. Shot. Can you believe that?

Saw one right over the house within the first week we were down here. It was the perfect welcome mat and validation that we made the right move when we relocated. Then about 6 weeks ago we saw a huge juvenal soaring right in front of us over one of the bridges (I think it was the Green Bank but it may have been the one by Goldecker) and we were like, "Check it out-- they really do have a population here!"
... and then I read this terrible thing about shot eagles?! I now recall about 9 months ago reading in the Asbury Park Press that some loser actually felled a tree with an active eagle's nest in it. The exact location was undisclosed and the details have escaped me, but it was somewhere in South Jersey.
 

GermanG

Piney
Apr 2, 2005
1,111
434
Little Egg Harbor
Eagles are more common in our area than most people realize, particularly during fall/winter migration. The problem is that they are seen soaring overhead more often than perched nearby. Most people's bird ID gets worse as distance increases. A man I work with can ID most raptors by eye that I'm lucky enough just to locate, using subtle features such as flying habits and wing silhouettes.

As for hunters, they are like any other group. A small percentage of individuals behaving badly will often draw generalizations about the whole group. My experience with fellow hunters is that more and more of them have a broader appreciation of the environment than they did in the past. The attitude that predators are competition for them is less common than it once was.
 

46er

Piney
Mar 24, 2004
8,837
2,143
Coastal NJ
As others have said, Bald eagles have made a huge come back here. The state now has 64 pair. A trip to Forsythe NWR always has a sighting. I've attached the 2007 Bald Eagle Report, lots of good Eagle stuff in it. Its not NJ, but if you can get up to the Upper Delaware just north of Port Jervis during January, you'll have eagles coming out your ears :D

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/ensp/pdf/eglrpt07.pdf
 

professor yahaak

New Member
Oct 22, 2008
22
0
51
As others have said, Bald eagles have made a huge come back here. The state now has 64 pair. A trip to Forsythe NWR always has a sighting. I've attached the 2007 Bald Eagle Report, lots of good Eagle stuff in it. Its not NJ, but if you can get up to the Upper Delaware just north of Port Jervis during January, you'll have eagles coming out your ears :D

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/ensp/pdf/eglrpt07.pdf

Now that I've clicked on your link, I specifically remember stumbling upon it because of that awesome photo of the chicks.

Here's a fun one:

http://www.baldeagleinfo.com/eagle/eagle1.html#A

Hope this comes through ok... newbie...
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,181
Yesterday, while working at the Gloucester Twp Compost Facility (across Timber Creek from Runnemede/Glendora) I looked up & whatdoyaknow......an eagle! After he took off from the cell tower, I watched him fly over Timber Creek for about an hour.

Must have been the same one we saw. We were right near there under the bridge on 42. If you come off of 55 heading toward Creek Road, we were on the beach you see when you look to the right as you cross Big timber Creek.

I think I found an old property stone there. There actually was a boat ramp there years ago and they blocked it off. You can still see where the boats would enter. I was surprised that the water was actually clean. It looks dirty because the bottom is dark.

Guy
 

piker56

Explorer
Jan 13, 2006
640
53
67
Winslow
Must have been the same one we saw. We were right near there under the bridge on 42. If you come off of 55 heading toward Creek Road, we were on the beach you see when you look to the right as you cross Big timber Creek.

I think I found an old property stone there. There actually was a boat ramp there years ago and they blocked it off. You can still see where the boats would enter. I was surprised that the water was actually clean. It looks dirty because the bottom is dark.

Guy

I grew up in Brooklawn and fished the waters around that area when the water was really filthy. You're right, the water is much cleaner now, and the fishing is good (Striped Bass, Large Mouth Bass). My younger brother lives in that area and has seen the eagles often.
 

MuckSavage

Explorer
Apr 1, 2005
597
218
56
Turnersville
Guy,
You were at the Runnemede Green Acres area. "Beaverbrook Park" I think? From that beach, If you looked across the Creek (Crik), You can see the "Clement Oak" formerly on RCA property, now, sadly, a shopping center.


Mechoak - Lenape word for "Old Tree". This is one of the oldest trees in NJ.

This is the first in our series of unique trees. The Clement Oak, named for the family that owned and farmed the land there for generations, has a rich and varied history. Located in Deptford Township where Big Timber Creek separates Camden County from Gloucester County, it was a landmark before the arrival of European colonists. The earliest mention of this tree is in legends handed down from generation to generation. These legends tell of the Leni-Lenape Indians holding solemn tribal councils under this tree. Later there were powwows and a treaty signing with white settlers held under the shelter of this giant oak. It was mentioned as the start of property lines in a survey by David Leeds, in 1678, indicating then that at that time, its size was notable enough to serve as a landmark. *

This tree has not been easily accessible for years and now is available for viewing.

Species: White Oak - Circumference: 19 feet 2 inches - Age: 400 - 450 years.

A plaque at the base of the tree reads...

"The Clement Oak which sheltered Lenape Indian four centuries ago and early colonist three centuries ago and children at play in later years is dedicated during the Tercentenary of New Jersey as symbolic of the States continuous growth."

Gloucester Count Historical Society July 1969


* Ref: Richard Stockton College of NJ
 

BambamNJ

Scout
Sep 14, 2008
34
0
Waterford, NJ
Sadly most of the Lenape areas are now developed. My great grandmother was Lenape which makes me a TRUE local. :) The Rancocas reservation I believe is now all developments as are the old orchards. Most of the Lenapes were moved to reservations in OK. There are few descendants in the Vineland area.
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,181
Guy,
You were at the Runnemede Green Acres area. "Beaverbrook Park" I think? From that beach, If you looked across the Creek (Crik), You can see the "Clement Oak" formerly on RCA property, now, sadly, a shopping center.


Mechoak - Lenape word for "Old Tree". This is one of the oldest trees in NJ.

This is the first in our series of unique trees. The Clement Oak, named for the family that owned and farmed the land there for generations, has a rich and varied history. Located in Deptford Township where Big Timber Creek separates Camden County from Gloucester County, it was a landmark before the arrival of European colonists. The earliest mention of this tree is in legends handed down from generation to generation. These legends tell of the Leni-Lenape Indians holding solemn tribal councils under this tree. Later there were powwows and a treaty signing with white settlers held under the shelter of this giant oak. It was mentioned as the start of property lines in a survey by David Leeds, in 1678, indicating then that at that time, its size was notable enough to serve as a landmark. *

This tree has not been easily accessible for years and now is available for viewing.

Species: White Oak - Circumference: 19 feet 2 inches - Age: 400 - 450 years.

A plaque at the base of the tree reads...

"The Clement Oak which sheltered Lenape Indian four centuries ago and early colonist three centuries ago and children at play in later years is dedicated during the Tercentenary of New Jersey as symbolic of the States continuous growth."

Gloucester Count Historical Society July 1969


* Ref: Richard Stockton College of NJ

Yes I know about that tree, but have never been there. Rob who I was with went there just as they started the building of the shopping center. We looked for it while we were standing there but he said he could not see it. I was not sure what it looked like since all the trees looked the same to me from there.

He was telling me about the many supports on the tree keeping it up, and the sign there. One day I will go early on a Sunday morning and drive behind the shopping area and check it out.

We drove our bikes all over the Green Acres and I found that my eyes are getting old. We were flying around that bumpy path and on the curves I had problems keeping focused on the ground. it became a blur and I almost went off the path.

That hill heading out of there by Volts School is a killer on a bike. My bike is old with only two gears working, and at the top I thought I was going to die. Then we crossed the pike and had another never ending hill, and then the hill on Clemsnts Bridge Road, and then the turnpike hill. One hour of torture and we are doing an hour every Monday :(

Guy
 

Pandot

Scout
Sep 30, 2008
98
0
Sweetwater
National Geographic-worthy photo op

Today, out in the middle of a lake near my house, I was stunned to see a bald eagle on the ice, a couple yards away from a goose. I turned off the main road onto a dirt road for a better view and as I opened my window to photograph it, I could hear the goose squawking. Apparently he was stuck in the ice and, presumably, this eagle was thinkin' about dinner. I should have taken that photo when I had the chance because as I crept along the road for an even better shot, the eagle flew up into one of the trees on the other side of the lake. I tried to follow the road further along the perimeter of the lake but by the time I once again had a good shot of him, a patrolman came by and I had to stop what I was doing to explain to him why I was ignoring the No Trespassing sign... he left me alone to continue what I was doing but my opportunity was gone.

As far as I know, bald eagles are primarily fish eaters, but apparently when much of the local waters are frozen over, you take what you can get.

The wildlife in these parts just knocks me out.
 
Top