The Bald Eagle Restoration Project of Alabama

As a young lad in the sixties, I grew up on a dirt roadnorthern states and Canada to spend their winter
in rural northern Alabama. I was also fortunatehere, enjoying more moderate temperatures and ice
enough to live one cotton field away from thefree waters. Alabama has rewarded the birding
Wheeler Wildlife Refuge and next to a Grandfathercommunity with places to observe these grand birds.
who scratched out a living farming 40 acres ofThe North Alabama Birding Trail offers 50 sites that
cotton along with trapping and fishing to make endsare identified along highways and roads by signs
meet. It was the trapping and fishing we did togetherembellished with a kingfisher logo. Lake Guntersville
and instilled an early appreciation of wildlife.State Park is home to one of the largest Bald Eagle
One sunny day I saw a hawk circling over a nearbyroosts in the state and offers guided excursions to
field. I eased along the field's edge and sat down tosee the birds as does Joe Wheeler State Park. In
watch as nature was soon to take its course. Hiddenaddition, there are road side vantage points for bird
in the tree line, I never knew if the hawk saw me.watching in many areas. Or you may do as I have,
As I sat, there was a rustle in the grass. A rabbit, hislook up while playing golf to see this magnificent bird
eyes peering upward, focused on the hawk above.floating over the course at Lake Guntersville State
At each opportune moment the rabbit would take aPark.
couple of hops and wait motionless for the hawk toHow to watch Bald Eagles:
circle away. Soon he made a mad dash into the- Never approach a nest
woods. He never saw me, though he came within- Arrive early (7 to 9 AM) or stay late (4 to 5 PM)
ten feet of where I sat. The rabbit eluded the hawkwhen Eagles are flying to and from their roosts
that day, but it was a nature lesson I've been fond- Scan the tree line along riverbanks for Eagles sitting
of for many years.in tree tops
As majestic as this high soaring hawk was, there- Use Binoculars or Spotting Scopes to observe
was a bird of prey that had disappeared fromclosely
Alabama's skies back in the 1950s as it had in so- Photographers will need a telephoto lens and
many states due to DDT poisoning. DDT was finallypossibly a tri-pod
banned in 1972, but not before it erased the Bald- Observe all laws, rules and regulations governing the
Eagle from many of our skies. The Bald Eagle neveruse of roads and public areas
made it back on its own. This great national symbolInteresting Bald Eagle Facts:
of pride had dwindled nationwide and there were no- Bald Eagles have a wingspan of seven to eight feet
more nests to be found in my state - Alabama.and can live up to 30 years
In 1984 the Alabama Department of Conservation- The trademark white head and tail do not develop
and Natural Resources began a restoration programuntil about five years of age
for the Bald Eagle. Over the next seven years - 91- Bald Eagles can see prey from as far away as a
juvenile Bald Eagles were released in six areas of themile and a half
state. In 1991, two nests were spotted and the BaldShould you visit the state of Alabama, make plans to
Eagle started the long journey back. The 2007see this grand symbol of America and be thankful for
mid-winter survey indicated more than 100 nests. Thethe anti pollution stand and recovery efforts that
increase in numbers has been remarkable andhave brought the Bald Eagle back to this and many
surpassed the recovery goals set by the program.other states. Guided tours as well as maps of viewing
Each year, wintering Bald Eagles migrate fromareas are available from the state parks.