Volunteer With DEP

To Count Bald Eagles

The State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is looking for volunteers to assist with the 2005 Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey in Connecticut.

Of special interest to local birders is the fact that this year’s count will feature a survey of two locations that are within easy driving distance of Newtown –– Lake Waramaug in Warren and the Margery Reservoir in Danbury.

Bald eagles migrate south from the northern states during winter to areas of open water where they are able to catch fish, their main food item. Cold weather conditions that keep most waterways to the north covered with ice mean that higher numbers of eagles will be counted here in southern New England.

Each year since 1979, volunteers from private conservation organizations, the DEP, and the general public have helped conduct the Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey by recording all eagles seen at areas traditionally used by eagles, as well as in areas of suitable wintering habitat.

The 2005 survey will be held on Saturday, January 8, from 7 to 11 am. In 2004, 92 bald eagles were recorded statewide, including 50 adults, 41 immatures, and 1 unknown.

The Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey is not a complete census of the entire wintering population in Connecticut, but it is an index of the species’ frequency compared from year to year. The survey is conducted nationwide during a target time period and is coordinated by the US Department of the Interior, US Geological Survey, and Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center at the Snake River Field Station in Oregon.

Anyone wishing to participate in the 2005 survey, should email name and mailing address to Wildlife Division biologist Julie Victoria (Julie.Victoria@po.state.ct.us). Efforts will be made to assign volunteers to a survey location closest to their homes.