I just saw an eagle fly down First Street in downtown Monroe.

OK, it wasn’t on First Street; it was about 50 feet above the street, soaring gracefully (isn’t that how you describe an eagle’s flight) northwest, probably toward the River Raisin.

My second-floor window at The Evening News looks out onto First Street. At about 9 a.m. I noticed a large bird heading my way; my first thought was it must be a great blue heron. But as it came closer, the white head and giant wing span were unmistakable - it was an American bald eagle.

As a newsman, my first reaction: this is news.

Then I calmed down. Just because I saw a bald eagle doesn’t mean it’s a news story. Thirty years ago, yes. Even five years ago, probably.

But today one of the greatest conservation success stories of the last century is that a bald eagle flying low over a city like Monroe no longer is front-page news.

Biologists estimate the bald eagle population in Michigan is approaching 500 nesting pairs, and a dozen or so of those are in Monroe County. Nationwide, an estimated 20,000 bald eagles are nesting in all but one (Vermont) of the lower 48 states.

That’s still a far cry from the 300,000 - 500,000 bald eagles experts estimate populated North American 300 years ago. But it’s a huge increase from just 40 years ago, when the population of bald eagles in the lower 48 states was down to about 140 nesting pairs.

Thankfully, our nation woke up to what was happening. First, DDT was banned, then the Endangered Species Act was passed and bald eagles were added to the list.

Now, it’s not exactly an everyday occurrence to see a bald eagle flying just above the treeline in Monroe, Mich. But, thankfully, it’s not big news, either.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 22nd, 2007 at 7:06 am and is filed under Local issues, events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.