Category Archives: Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle visits pond

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Photo by Chris Bosak A Bald Eaglea fies over Little Merganser Lake in Danbury, Conn., Sept. 2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Bald Eagle flies over Little Merganser Lake in Danbury, Conn., Sept. 2016.

I live on Merganser Lake (real name Lake Waubeeka). A short walk away, down a trail that starts at my backyard, is Little Merganser Lake (really the Beaver Pond.) I like Little Merganser Lake because it is completely undeveloped and isolated. A wide variety of wildlife, mostly birds, can be seen at the lake and pond, but the pond is more productive because of its relative remoteness.

I’ve seen some pretty good ducks and herons down there, but today I saw a Bald Eagle there for the first time. I heard it calling and then it soared overhead. It was impossible to miss. Bald Eagles are becoming more and more popular and nest on nearby lakes such as Candlewood and Lillinonah. So to see one here is not overly surprising, but as I said, it was first time seeing one, so of course I have to post about it.

The photos, admittedly, are not the best because of the gray, drizzly conditions, but you get the picture …

Photo by Chris Bosak A Bald Eagle flies over Little Merganser Lake in Danbury, Conn., Sept. 2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Bald Eagle flies over Little Merganser Lake in Danbury, Conn., Sept. 2016.

Eagles unsuccessful in nesting attempt in Norwalk

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The eagles that were sitting on the nest on Chimon Island off the coast of Norwalk, Conn., earlier this spring have abandoned the nest. It’s sad news, but it’s not uncommon for birds of prey to fail in their first attempt at a nesting sight. Hopefully they will try again nest year with better results.

Here’s my story in The Hour.

Bird Book Look: “Inside a Bald Eagle’s Nest”

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Cover of "Inside A Bald Eagle's Nest"

Cover of “Inside A Bald Eagle’s Nest”

Here’s the first of many (hopefully) posts about bird books, or Bird Book Look, as I will call the posts. They will not be full reviews of the book, but rather quick posts with some information about the book and a few thoughts about the text and images. These bird book posts will be used mainly to let everyone know that the books are out there and give a general sense about it.

The first book to be featured here is “Inside A Bald Eagle’s Nest,” by Teena Ruark Gorrow and Craig A. Koppie, published by Schiffer Publishing. The nonfiction book is rich with pictures and accompanying text about a Bald Eagle pair raising young in a neighborhood outside Washington DC. It includes Continue reading →

Did the Norwalk eagles have babies yet?

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Hour photo/Chris Bosak Rick Potvin, manager of the Stewart B. McKinney NWR, holds a sign before it was posted on Chimon Island on Wednesday. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife officials were on the island to mark off areas to protect a bald eagle nest.

Hour photo/Chris Bosak
Rick Potvin, manager of the Stewart B. McKinney NWR, holds a sign before it was posted on Chimon Island on Wednesday. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife officials were on the island to mark off areas to protect a bald eagle nest.

The answer is a definite “probably.”

I wrote my latest For the Birds column in The Hour newspaper (Norwalk, Conn.) about the topic.

Here’s the start of the column:

By CHRIS BOSAK
For the Birds

Now for the answer to the burning question in the Norwalk birding world: Most likely.

The question, of course, is: Did the Bald Eagles have babies yet?

Again, the answer is “most likely.” Without climbing the tree or somehow hovering above the tree on Chimon Island where the nest is located, it’s hard to tell with all certainty. Since no one is going to climb the tree or otherwise hover above it, it’s basically a waiting game.

The eagles are still out there and one is sitting on the nest at all times. You could see that from Calf Pasture Beach with a spotting scope or good pair of binoculars. In talking with Norwalk’s Larry Flynn, the eagles have been sitting on the nest long enough that eggs would have been laid and hatched by now. Flynn is monitoring the birds for the state DEEP.

The vantage point from Calf Pasture and, indeed, even closer from Long Island Sound, is such that only the adult eagle’s head and maybe part of its body is visible. There is no way to tell what, if anything, it is sitting on.

If there are actually eaglets in the nest, it will be several weeks until they are large enough to be seen in the nest. So we play the waiting the game. Hopefully our patience will pay off and eventually we’ll all get to see fledgings flying about Long

Click here for the rest.

Yes, there are eagles out there

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Photo by Chris Bosak A Bald Eagle preches in a tree on Chimon Island off the coast of Norwalk, Conn., March 2015.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Bald Eagle preches in a tree on Chimon Island off the coast of Norwalk, Conn., March 2015.

I tagged along with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service officials and staff this week to confirm an active Bald Eagles’ nest on Chimon Island off the coast of Norwalk, Conn. The nest is visible from the coast with binoculars or a spotting scope, so we were all fairly certain of

Hour photo/Chris Bosak Rick Potvin, manager of the Stewart B. McKinney NWR, holds a sign before it was posted on Chimon Island on Wednesday. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife officials were on the island to mark off areas to protect a bald eagle nest.

Hour photo/Chris Bosak
Rick Potvin, manager of the Stewart B. McKinney NWR, holds a sign before it was posted on Chimon Island on Wednesday. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife officials were on the island to mark off areas to protect a bald eagle nest.

what we’d see anyway, but the confirmation has officially been made. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife staff posted more signage on the island and placed additional barriers to protect the eagles, which are safeguarded by state and federal laws.

Chimon Island is part of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge.

The laws, of course, do not protect the eagles against annoyed

Ospreys, so a battle may be pending. The eagles have taken over a nest that has been used by an Osprey pair for the last four years. The osprey haven’t returned from South America yet, so it could get interested when they do.

The photos aren’t great, I know, but they are indeed the eagles off the coast of Norwalk.

Here are links to some stories I wrote for The Hour newspaper regarding the eagles.

Bald Eagles may be nesting on Norwalk Island

For the Birds: Have the eagles landed?

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirms eagle nest on Chimon Island

A new eagles’ nest in town?

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Photo by Larry Flynn A pair of Bald Eagles flies over Veterans Park in Norwalk in March 2015.

Photo by Larry Flynn
A pair of Bald Eagles flies over Veterans Park in Norwalk in March 2015.

Here’s a story I did for today’s (Tuesday, March 17) The Hour newspaper in Norwalk, Conn. Norwalk is along the southwestern coast of Connecticut and, while on the surface does not seem an ideal place for eagles to nest, the coast and islands off the mainland offer perfect habitat. It is already home to more than a dozen Osprey nests. Now, hopefully the eagles will be successful there, too. Thanks to Larry Flynn for the above photo and keeping me abreast of this news.

Here’s the story:

By CHRIS BOSAK
Hour Staff Writer

NORWALK – The Norwalk Islands may play a part in the remarkable comeback of the Bald Eagle.

Over the last several weeks, a Bald Eagle pair has been exhibiting nesting behavior high atop a dead tree on Chimon Island, which is one of the Norwalk Islands and part of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge. The Bald Eagle has been making a strong comeback after being nearly eliminated from the contiguous United States.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Milan Bull, director of Connecticut Audubon, said. “Who would have thought this would happen several years ago? I think we’ll start seeing eagle nests in a lot of areas.”

Officials from Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge will visit the

To read the rest, click here.