The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is now reporting that there are 872 bald eagle nests in the state - a 670 percent increase from the 113 recorded in 1973. The population increase has been so great that the eagle was removed from the endangered species list a couple years ago.
Bald eagles are a common sight around Leech Lake in Northern Minnesota, where I enjoy spending time in the summer; the birds patrol the shoreline looking for fish, and do so from a great altitude because of their remarkable eyes. Year-round residents report that if they drag a roadkill deer carcass out onto the ice in the winter, a half-dozen eagles will gather. Whether we like it or not, our national symbol is admittedly an opportunistic scavenger [aren't we all...]
(Photo credit unknown)
