Bald Eagles are nesting on all three of Pittsburgh's major rivers!

Audubon Society of W.PA ^ | March 2014 | Unknown

[galtman]

Pittsburghers Rooting for the Eagles?

Many people probably thought the day would never come when Pittsburghers would be cheering for the Eagles…Bald Eagles, that is!

It has probably been more than 250 years since Bald Eagles last nested along Pittsburgh’s three rivers. In the 18th century, suitable nesting habitat in the form of mature tall trees was stripped from the hillsides flanking the rivers to meet the lumber and fuel demands of a rapidly growing human population in the area; second, industrialization beginning in the 19th century led to extensive unregulated pollution of the rivers, which decimated fish populations that eagles feed on; third, beginning in the mid-20th century eagles (and many other birds) showed signs of succumbing to the unintended side effects of widespread use of the pesticide DDT (developed for use in World War II) which eventually caused chronic nesting failure for the species. As recently as the mid-1980s, there were just a few remaining nesting Bald Eagles pairs anywhere in Pennsylvania, all of these in the northwest corner of the state. Even more recently, during the Second Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Atlas project conducted statewide from 2004-2010, no Bald Eagles were observed nesting in (or even very close to) Allegheny County.

This history makes it all the more amazing that today there is a pair nesting on each of our three rivers, and one, located on the Monongahela River in the community of Hays, is within just five miles of the miles of the Point! A second nest is within view of the Allegheny River near Harmarville, and a third nest is in an undisclosed location in Allegheny County along the Ohio River. Importantly, Pittsburgh (Allegheny County) is now tied with Philadlephia County: three Bald Eagle nests to three!

[galtman]

There is a camera online at least one of the nests ... two eggs have already hatched ... here's the link to that camera feed: http://lite.wildearth.tv/pittsburgh_eagles/

[Cowboy Bob]

Their nests float?

[Vinnie]

I’ve been watching the Hays nest online. Apparently there is a train track very close . Hear the trains going by.
It’s fascinating how gentle and attentive the parents are.

[rktman]

Sounds like a prime location for some windmills. Pesky dang eagles.

[Gamecock]

LOL!

[almcbean]

We don’t have eagles in da Burg - they’re iggles.

[Amberdawn]

Here, near Philly, my Dad calls them the Beagles.

[FroggyTheGremlim]

Jynt iggles!

[almcbean]

Do you go to the one in ‘sliberty or da sousside?

[Mamzelle]

That whole Rachel Caron DDT thing was as big a hoax as global warming….but look how it lives on!!

[wita]

I believe it is Carson, and the only thing worse is how malaria lives on once DDT became the enemy. Deaths of tens of thousands of people somehow pales in comparison to the lofty iggle. Malaria was almost eradicated until Carson came along.

[fatnotlazy]

The Hays nest site made ABC news. Even showed a video of Mama Eagle fighting off a raccoon trying to raid the nest. No small feat. Raccoons are vicious.

[Mamzelle]

A silly woman who might have written good poetry. She made us all conscious of the environment, I guess I have to give her credit, but has left us with her fatuous legacy of religiosity and Gaia-worship.

And the lives lost to malaria, thanks to Rachel Carson, number in the millions. Yet another pernicious liberal, up to her dithering armpits in human death and destruction.

[fatnotlazy]

Yeah. Now the big thing is donating to purchase mosquito nets. I keep thinking if the enviro-whackos hadn't pushed to have DDT banned, there might not have been a need for mosquito nets.

Why is it, every time these alleged do-gooders do anything, it ends up costing us more — sometimes even lives?

[galtman]

Ha Ha ... that bad headline was written by the Audubon Society ... not me ... I would have written “ Three pairs of Bald Eagles nesting near each of Pittsburgh’s three Rivers” ... their headline doesn’t detract from a cool story!!!

[Hugin]

Bald Eagles are nesting on all three of Pittsburgh’s major rivers!

What happens when the ice melts?

[Buckeye McFrog]

Pittsburghers Rooting for the Eagles?

In 1943 the Steelers and Eagles did merge squads, due to the fact that so many players had been called up in the Draft and gone off to war. They were called the Steagles.

In 1944 they merged squads with the Chicago Cardinals.

[T-Bird45]

There’s an eagle nest on the Arkansas River a few miles from my house that is also right next to a train track (BNSF). Fortunately, it’s not near a crossing so the horn is not in use but it certainly gets rumbled by the locomotive engines. In a recent trip by the location, I did see the male keeping watch, perched on the edge of the nest.

[GladesGuru]

Pittsburg traded a thriving steel industry for a handful of eagles?

Such a deal!

Let ‘em starve under Obama - it is what they voted for and deserve.

[galtman]

Huh ... I thought I was posting to Free Republic ... a site that caters to adults ... I must have posted to Yahoooooo by accident ... because many responses here seem to be coming from liberal children !!!