June 05, 2005
Susquehanna River Eagles
From the Eagle Cam nest: The youngest eaglet, Aramis, is spending very little time in the nest. He stopped sleeping in the nest several days ago, and over the weekend, he's been seen at the nest getting a meal from one of the parents, but for most of the day he is not visible. We're not positive, but there might be a chance that he has fledged. We'll try to get more info about that if we can.
Now onto Susquehanna River eagles...
Several of our cam watchers have told us that they watch a popular eagle nest that can be seen near the Susquehanna River. One of those watchers kindly sent us the beautiful photo that appears below showing a time-lapse photo of the adult eagle coming into the nest. Click on the thumbnail.
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Since we're celebrating the fledging of the eaglets in Vermont, it seemed like a good time to share the photo and also the two below that show the parent in the same nest with what appears to be two eaglets. Click on the thumbnails for larger versions. And a big thanks to Woody for the use of his photos.
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The Susquehanna River is a well-known river in these parts because it is vital to the existence of the Chesapeake Bay. About 12,000 years ago, melting glaciers flooded the Susquehanna River Valley, thus creating the Bay. Today the Susquehanna River provides 50% of the freshwater entering the Chesapeake Bay, which is itself the largest estuary in America.
The National Geographic website offers a wonderful interactive zoom map of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. Visit their website and then zoom in to the area above Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and you can see the Susquehanna River and how it flows into the Bay. The map might take a few minutes to fully load.
The site also discusses some of the many troubles that the Chesapeake Bay is experiencing due to pollution and development throughout the watershed -- an area which covers six states: Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia as well as the District of Columbia. The effort to save the Chesapeake Bay is an ongoing one, and groups like the Friends of Blackwater work to not only protect Blackwater Refuge, but to also protect islands in the Chesapeake Bay as well as the quality of the Bay itself.
Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster