Bay Birds Booming

A couple of different articles on how well our favorite raptors, the Osprey and the Bald Eagles are doing in the Bay area and the US in general:

Chesapeake Bay is world's top breeding ground for osprey

Ospreys are a fixture on the Chesapeake Bay — and experts say nowhere in the world is there a bigger population of breeding pairs than right here in the tidal region.

From an all-time low of about 1,400 pairs in the mid-1970s after the banned pesticide DDT wiped out about 80 percent of the population, ospreys have soared back to more than 10,000 pairs today.

And if raptor experts are right, the bay now has more ospreys than ever. It's a remarkable recovery driven largely by the same source that caused their decline: humans.

"The population continues to increase," said conservation biologist Bryan Watts. "I think here in the bay the human population has played a role. I'm pretty sure we're beyond what the historical numbers are, and it has everything to do with the substrate availability."

I hadn't thought of that before, but indeed, a majority of Osprey nests that you see are in man made structures, and not in trees or other natural pinnacles, which suggests that, indeed, we have been providing an over supply of suitable nesting areas for them.

And that's good news for Bald Eagles too, since they would rather steal a fish from an Osprey than catch one fair and square.

How Are the United States' Bald Eagles Doing? Pretty Darn Well

One of the United States' great conservation success stories continues, with bald eagle populations around the nation continuing to grow. Following the devastating pesticide-fueled collapse of the national population in the 60s, the bird's resurgence stands as proof that environmental regulations and dedicated conservation efforts can find true success.

The continued growth has been evident in Virginia's James River and Chesapeake Bay region, where early surveys conducted this spring by the Center for Conservation Biology found 220 breeding pairs, already a step up over 2013's total of 205.

"The population continues to grow, and doesn't seem to be slowing down," Center for Conservation Biology Director Bryan Watts said in a phone call. "It's been growing at a rate of about eight to 10 percent a year, and has been since the 80s."

But that which can't continue forever, won't. What happens when we get all the Ospreys and Eagles the land can hold?

If trends continue, bald eagles will eventually reach a saturation point across the continental US, which brings forth a question that's only begun to be asked fairly recently: What kind of protection do the birds deserve if their population is stable?

In 2007, the birds were de-listed from the Endangered Species Act following the assessment that their population had grown enough to remain healthy. The decision was hailed as a sign of conservation success, and criticisms were tempered by the fact that the birds are also protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, which was enacted in 1940.

As populations have grown, so has their range—and with that expansion comes some land use restrictions covering nesting sites.

"If you look at the amount of property, this is private property, that has some kind of restriction on it due to the protection, and you look at the value of those places, we're in the several billion dollar range in the Bay," Watts said.

Give them government offices.