This elegant old Bald Eagle took up a perch near us at the Blackwater refuge and offered his impressive profile from every angle. A delightful encounter.
This is a good week to celebrate the Bald Eagle, which carries a lot of symbolism as it hovers overhead. This Eagle (to the right) was one of a half dozen we spotted last week at Maryland Eastern Shore’s Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. He’s part of birding’s greatest revival of this generation.
A half century ago, the Bald Eagle nearly went extinct as a result of widespread use of the insecticide DDT that poisoned fish — a major food source for Eagles and raptors. Only about 500 pairs remained in the U.S. when the insecticide was banned in 1972, and federal laws protecting the Eagle went into place.