Trending
MECCA -- In the blistering winds Friday morning, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Park Ranger Jamison Conley stood on the state Route 88 causeway and counted six bald eagles, including a pair of dark-colored juveniles having an apparent meeting of the minds on the ice to the south.
A few miles north at the Mahan Denman access area, Conley counted seven more bald eagles perched on branches or flying above the treeline.
While Mosquito Creek Lake did not participate in a nationwide bald eagle count in January as it has in years past, Conley said America's bird is still flourishing at the lake.
"While they're no longer an endangered species, it's important to still make sure that we're in an upward trend and that we're not seeing us go backwards," Conley said.
Bald eagles were considered endangered in the mid-20th century. According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, in 1979 there were just four known bald eagle nests in Ohio. By 2020, ODNR documented more than 700 nests in the state, and listed bald eagles as a "common" bird.
"We now have a generation of people who are starting to get used to seeing the bald eagle again," Conley said. "The fact that we have so many now is a testament to environmental stewardship."
On Conley's last count in January 2021, he saw 44 bald eagles -- but he noted that the birds can travel hundreds of miles in a day, meaning that some of Mosquito's resident eagles might have been elsewhere that day.
Mosquito Creek Lake is a popular home for many species of birds, including bald eagles, which like to be left alone, Conley said. The open areas away from human interference, availability of large, sturdy evergreen trees in which to build nests, and the lake itself make for a perfect home.
Bald eagles hunt fish, as well as small mammals and amphibians. In the winter, the birds sometimes make use of natural or manmade holes in the ice to fish, Conley said.
Bald eagles also will scavenge or take food from other birds in the raptor family, like the ospreys who also take up residence at the lake during the warm months.
The osprey is another great comeback story in Ohio, Conley said. Like bald eagles, their numbers were negatively affected by pesticides, such as DDT, and hunting. Through protective action by the federal government, the population was restored.
"I grew up in this area and I never saw an osprey until the past 10, 15 years or so. Now we have them quite often," Conley said.
While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Mosquito Lake doesn't keep an exact count of the ospreys, Conley said that it does work with FirstEnergy to keep ospreys from nesting on powerlines and antenna towers by putting up nesting platforms around the lake.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers owns much of the land around the lake. Through a partnership with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, everything north of the Mahan Denman access area is a game refuge, where boating, fishing and hunting are not allowed. The access area, however, is one of the best places to spot bald eagles from a polite distance -- especially in the winter, when there are no leaves on the trees. The parking lots on the causeway are also good for eagle viewing, Conley said.
He said many people may have seen bald eagles and not recognized them, since the juvenile birds are darker in color and don't have the hallmark white heads that people expect. As such, the younger birds are sometimes mistaken for golden eagles, which are more common in western America. By about 5 years old, bald eagles are fully mature and have their characteristic plumage. They can live as long as 30 years in the wild.
Conley said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Mosquito Lake State Park love educating people about the local birds, including the bald eagles.
"We encourage people to find out more and to view them from a safe distance," he said.