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Survey Team
The Last Green Valley bald eagle survey team includes: standing, left to right: Carol Wood, Justin Smith, Rob Andrews, Jeff Salvas, Nancy Dziki, Marcy Dawley, Karyn DiBoneventura, Tom Dziki, Richard Governale, Pam Lewerenz, Doug Cutler, Jean Pillo, Virge Lorents, Tenley Nelson, Mike Nelson, Alan Nordell, Mary-Beth Kaiser, Lori Young, Nancy Polydys, Charlene Cutler, Surya Saraswaithi, Jack Peretto, Wendy Brennan. Sitting: Dory Salvas, Kayla Salvas, Charlie Leach, Tom Brennan, Maggie Peretto, Bill Reid, Ken Pickren, Lynne Sarty, Andrew Vaitkunas. Not pictured: Lois Bruinooge, Susan Konow, Don Konow, Grace Jacobson, Cathy St. Andre, Mary Sharkey, Karen Durlach, David Ostrowski, Eric Thomas, Amy Driscoll and grandson, Art Mullins and crew, Pat Hedenberg, Chrystal Adams, Robert Askins and Karen Askins. Wendy Brennan photo.
For the fourth year, a team of 50 stalwart volunteers from The Last Green Valley, Inc. (TLGV) loaded up binoculars, cameras and cold weather gear and set out to count bald eagles. The group split into 14 teams to survey 25 locations in the watershed Jan. 12. This year’s team is the largest to date.
Bill Reid, TLGV’s Chief Ranger, organized the team of volunteers to participate in the Midwinter Eagle Survey.
“Bald eagles are extraordinary birds of prey,” Reid said. “They are very large with a wingspan of up to 96 inches and body length of 28-40 inches. Bald eagles are hard to miss.”
In 2009, only one bald eagle was sighted on the Quinebaug River. This year TLGV’s team found 13.
Most of the eagles sighted during the survey period arrived in The Last Green Valley over the past two months from northern states where the cold weather has frozen over rivers and lakes. Bald eagles are primarily fish eaters, although they have been reported to eat ducks and other prey they can capture. They are in The Last Green Valley because the habitat can support them with excellent food sources in the rivers and because the warmer climate here keeps most rivers from completely freezing during the winter months.
The Last Green Valley is home to some bald eagles that live here year round. At least two adults have built a nest and successfully hatched and fledged four eaglets over the past two years.
The Midwinter Eagle Survey is organized by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Nationally, the program is a project of the U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division. Across the states, every team observes on the same date and during the same hours to make the Midwinter Eagle Survey a national, state and regional snapshot of the health of the eagle population.