Look what I found in my backyard! No. I'm kidding. But, a dear friend of mine was kind enough to send me this picture of a real, live local eagle. In central Indiana, who knew?! Apparently, eagles around here aren't that unusual, but I've never seen one.
So my friend took me to see the nest. Whoa, those things are huge! When I was there, we didn't see the bird. Darn. However, my pal was lucky enough to not only catch an amazing shot of this eagle, but she also saw it's mate AND some babies in the nest. How freaking cool is that?!?
Let's face it. You just can't get any cooler than an eagle. Seriously, they are indeed the most awesome bird alive...and for a while there, things weren't looking so good for our national symbol. In 1940 Congress passed the Bald Eagle Protection Act, which made it illegal to shoot at, kill, or poison the birds. Things were ok for a while ...until the pesticide DDT came along. It got into the food chain and eventually caused the birds to lay eggs with thinner shells (which, you know, can't be good) and the eagle numbers dropped dramatically.
After DDT was banned in 1972, eagles began to recover. Congress passed the Endangered Species Act in 1967, and the modern act in 1973 - and the bald eagle was among the first animals named on the protected list.
On June 28th, 2007, they announced that the bald eagle had been taken off the federally protected list. YAY! However, laws still prohibit killing and harming eagles or their nests or eggs. So, that's good for the eagles.
There you have it. Many thanks to National Geographic for the info about eagles. :)
And if you'd like to check out my friend's website, here's the link. She and her husband are - by far - two of the most talented photographers I've ever known. Very cool stuff. http://www.ennisphotography.com/
So my friend took me to see the nest. Whoa, those things are huge! When I was there, we didn't see the bird. Darn. However, my pal was lucky enough to not only catch an amazing shot of this eagle, but she also saw it's mate AND some babies in the nest. How freaking cool is that?!?
Let's face it. You just can't get any cooler than an eagle. Seriously, they are indeed the most awesome bird alive...and for a while there, things weren't looking so good for our national symbol. In 1940 Congress passed the Bald Eagle Protection Act, which made it illegal to shoot at, kill, or poison the birds. Things were ok for a while ...until the pesticide DDT came along. It got into the food chain and eventually caused the birds to lay eggs with thinner shells (which, you know, can't be good) and the eagle numbers dropped dramatically.
After DDT was banned in 1972, eagles began to recover. Congress passed the Endangered Species Act in 1967, and the modern act in 1973 - and the bald eagle was among the first animals named on the protected list.
On June 28th, 2007, they announced that the bald eagle had been taken off the federally protected list. YAY! However, laws still prohibit killing and harming eagles or their nests or eggs. So, that's good for the eagles.
There you have it. Many thanks to National Geographic for the info about eagles. :)
And if you'd like to check out my friend's website, here's the link. She and her husband are - by far - two of the most talented photographers I've ever known. Very cool stuff. http://www.ennisphotography.com/
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