One of the great conservation success stories of our time, the return of the American bald eagle, continued in Ohio this year.  A record number of nests were counted during Ohio’s statewide census.  Excerpts from Steve Pollick’s always-great Blade column:

State biologists tallied a record 184 nests in the state this year, the 21st consecutive year that the state’s breeding bald eagle population has increased.

Of those nests, 119 were known to be successful in producing young eagles. A determination of success could not be made at 16 other nests, and the remainder failed to produce young. Current reports from wildlife biologists and volunteer observers estimate a record total of 222 young eagles hatched in nests in 43 Ohio counties.

 At least 203 of these eaglets have already fledged, that is flown on their own. These young birds, in all brown plumage and lacking the distinctive white head and tail of mature adults, are approximately adult size, however. The prior record eaglet production was 205 from 110 nests, among 150 nests in all, in 2006.

 Most eagle nests in Ohio are located along the shores of Lake Erie, but some are well inland, including nests in Delaware, Hancock, Mercer and Wyandot counties. Counties with new nests in 2008 were Ashland (1), Belmont (1), Columbiana (1), Erie (2), Geauga (1), Highland (1), Lorain (1), Lucas (1), Mahoning (1), Ottawa (2), Pickaway (1), Richland (1), Ross (1), Sandusky (1), Trumbull (1), Tuscarawas (1), Wood (1), and Wyandot (2). A majority of the nests occur on private land.

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