Where Eagles Gather...

Gathering of Bald Eagles at the Norwalk Reservoir. Photo by Katie Myer

​Our national symbol has been creating quite a stir in and around Norwalk, Ohio. To local residents of this small-town region dominated by corn and soybean fields, the sight of a Bald Eagle is still a surprise though they’re becoming more common each year. The story of Bald Eagles settling into Ohio’s more rural areas – a landscape once believed to be unsuitable for one of our largest birds – is intriguing, and a testament to the success of this species’ return from the brink of extinction in the state. Today, nests are dotted across the landscape, and more are being added annually. In an era where bird populations are declining, this growth is heartening. But the threats are expanding, too.  

In Norwalk, a relatively new resident – but long-time bird watcher – has been enjoying learning her new home turf and has discovered that you can find birds wherever you look, not just at famous birding areas. To her astonishment, what awaited her at the Norwalk Reservoir was a sight that could be expected along the marshes of western Lake Erie, but had never been seen before in Huron County. 

​So. Many. EAGLES! 
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Bald Eagles have been seen more frequently in the Norwalk area after an increase in nesting territories in Huron, Seneca, and southern Sandusky Counties over the past decade, but the spectacle that greeted the resident required a deep breath. Not one, not five, and not ten, but 48 Bald Eagles of various ages could be seen at one time from her car.

This was too great of an experience to keep to oneself. After a few calls, word began to spread, and visitors from the area began arriving to take in the display. It was an awesome exhibition of Ohio’s largest bird of prey, not only for sheer numbers, but also for a closer look into the behaviors of this impressive bird. In every direction there were fights between birds, chases, food procurement, and interactions giving glimpses of eagle population dynamics. One eagle even decided that the best place to eat lunch was right beside a visitor’s car! 

Over the next few days, the spectacle went viral on social media and attracted the local media. The parking lot was full, and every make of spotting scope, binocular, and phone was trained on the magnificent animals. The hard part was which bird to concentrate on. Everything from dark birds hatched last summer, to heavily mottled three- and four-year-old birds with varying amounts of white in the head and tail, to the majestic, white-headed, five-plus-year-old birds that may be the most recognized bird in America. They were all there for the enjoyment of anyone who ventured to see what the excitement was all about. No one went home disappointed.

Gathering of eagles feeding in a field. This is IN THE FOOTPRINT of the proposed Emerson Creek Wind Facility.

​A Battle for Air Space 
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But this incredible spectacle – one that no one could have predicted occurring in rural Ohio even a decade ago – is at odds with an expanding industry also vying for a foothold - and air space -  in the region. Just six miles to the west of Norwalk Reservoir begins the potential footprint of Emerson Creek Wind, a wind power facility proposed by Apex Clean Energy that would place more than SEVENTY massive turbines in the air column. Multiple eagle nests have been documented in the project footprint by concerned local residents, but the wind company is denying the existence of many of them (a denial of evidence that should not be allowed to stand).  

An eagle’s nest within the footprint of a wind facility can be the project’s death knell if federal laws are upheld and enforced. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s own Eagle Conservation Plan (ECP) guidelines state in clear language that any nest located within the footprint of a project categorizes it as a Category 1 project. Category 1 projects are high-risk and require considerable redesign to be downgraded to Category 2; otherwise, they should be discontinued.

​Bald and Golden Eagles are the most protected birds in America. The governing acts are the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA) and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The Eagle Act has the added benefit of protecting all parts of the bird as well as its nest and the tree that contains the nest. While there is now a “Take” provision in the BGEPA that allows industries to kill a certain number of eagles without fear of prosecution, the plan is clear that a Category 1 project would not qualify for a “Take Permit,” even though that is the avenue being pursued by Apex Clean Energy for the Emerson Creek Wind facility. (We don’t refer to these projects as “farms,” since that’s a term that wind energy companies use to market these industrial sites to make them sound quaint or more fitting for rural areas.) 

A true success story involving decades of effort, millions of dollars in donated public funds, and thousands of volunteer hours, the scope of the Bald Eagle Recovery Program initiated in Ohio in 1979 cannot be understated. What, at the lowest, was four breeding pairs in the entire state with little to no natural production has exploded to over 900 pairs recorded in the 2023 survey by the Ohio Division of Wildlife. This number doesn’t include an unknown number of non-breeding birds from the past several breeding seasons, which could easily represent several thousand birds just biding their time until the primal urge to settle down takes control of their hormones. 

While this growth is impressive, it can be wiped out if we do not continue to be good stewards of the habitat they need, including the air column. 

​As the breeding eagle population began to turn around in the late 1980s, expansion began to move south along the Sandusky River drainage in 1993. It wasn’t until 1996 that the “Garlo Nest” in Seneca County was established as the first eagle nest not directly tied to the river or Lake Erie. Then, in 1998, nests in Milan and Nevada were located, and the population expansion began in earnest. While the origin of each bird seen at the Norwalk Reservoir can’t be verified, other data suggest many of them were birds hatched in the north-central region of Norwalk and the surrounding areas. Nest totals are skyrocketing, and nest success is placing many new birds in the population. A good feeding area, such as the reservoir, is going to attract these “local” birds. The safety of these winter eagle concentrations is important to the long-term survival of the species. 

It has taken major changes in Bald Eagle behavior to allow for this great recovery. Over the past several decades, eagles have begun nesting farther from water, closer to each other, and closer to people. Sure, things would have improved with the great human effort to bring them back from the brink, but the birds themselves played a major role as well. 

Photo by Mandy Roberts

​So how does this tie into the gathering of dozens of eagles at the Norwalk Reservoir? This is an example of how conservation success comes with responsibility and the need for continued diligence. This region of Ohio, the north-central plain, does not have ideal woods or large natural water bodies, but it does have what the adapted Bald Eagle is looking for: bodies of water with good fish populations, small woodlots with large super-canopy trees, a relatively unobstructed air column, and some isolation from heavy human activity during critical times of the life cycle – elements that are vital requirements for eagles to thrive. We must work just as hard now as we did in the past to ensure that Bald Eagles continue to thrive in Ohio, and beyond. 

Local residents in the Norwalk area are doing just that, by actively monitoring eagle activity within the Emerson Wind facility footprint. Concentrations, though smaller in nature than those seen at the Norwalk Reservoir, are being documented weekly. One specific sighting involved at least five birds, all of breeding age, foraging in an open agriculture field. Two were fully adult-plumaged birds and could well have been the breeding pair from a  nearby nest or a nest yet to be discovered. The other birds were of three- and four-year-old plumages, fully capable of breeding, and potentially looking for a home territory in that area. They are the future expansion that is blossoming in this region. But this region could become a real and present danger to their future. 

​For those who would argue that climate change and/or fossil fuel extraction override the impact of the wind turbines, we ask that you consider LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. The Black Swamp Bird Observatory board and staff fully acknowledge the need to develop renewable energy. You do not see us battling projects away from the Lake Erie shoreline. But we do battle projects here, in this place where millions, potentially billions, of songbirds concentrate during spring and fall migration, where these birds rise and descend through the rotor-swept zone of these massive machines, where jaw-dropping numbers of Bald Eagles, Sandhill Cranes, Trumpeter and Tundra Swans, and waterfowl by the hundred of thousands depend on this habitat for survival. Where birds concentrate, massive turbines are not the right source of renewable energy. 

Conservation doesn’t end with habitat restoration. That’s where it begins. It would be irresponsible to allow wind turbines to destroy the air column habitat in an area that we now know is important to huge numbers of these magnificent birds. We must continue to protect these habitats and the wildlife they attract. Together, we must take a stand to ensure that our national symbol will remain for future generations to enjoy.  

What can you do? Speak to your elected officials. Vote for those who understand the value of protecting habitat and who support responsible siting of renewable energy. And document any eagle sightings in your area!