COMMERCIAL TOWNSHIP - A little more than a decade ago, birdwatchers coming here in February for a festival honoring the bald eagle didn't even know whether they would see one.
At the time, fewer than 30 nesting pairs of America's national symbol were living in New Jersey. But today, there are more than 100 nesting pairs in the state - 60 percent of them in Cumberland and Salem counties - and most of the 600 birders who traveled to Mauricetown on Saturday for the 12th annual Cumberland County Winter Eagle Festival saw one.
"Now it's about definite you'll see an eagle. It's really great to see the way they've come back. We have nests on the Maurice and Cohansey (rivers). Eagles are just all over the place," said Leslie Ficcaglia, the chairwoman for the event.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/...cle_6162f33a-550d-11e1-9964-001871e3ce6c.html
At the time, fewer than 30 nesting pairs of America's national symbol were living in New Jersey. But today, there are more than 100 nesting pairs in the state - 60 percent of them in Cumberland and Salem counties - and most of the 600 birders who traveled to Mauricetown on Saturday for the 12th annual Cumberland County Winter Eagle Festival saw one.
"Now it's about definite you'll see an eagle. It's really great to see the way they've come back. We have nests on the Maurice and Cohansey (rivers). Eagles are just all over the place," said Leslie Ficcaglia, the chairwoman for the event.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/...cle_6162f33a-550d-11e1-9964-001871e3ce6c.html
