Another Season of the Delaware Bay Shorebird Project Underway
By: Dr. Larry Niles, LJ Niles Associates LLC
The value of a shorebird stopover like Delaware Bay can be seen in the shaky cam movie by this author. Red knots – some recently arrived after a grueling 6,000-mile flight over 6 days of continuous flying – arrive on the Bayshore desperate for food. Over the last 10,000 years, the species has evolved to fly directly to the Bay to feed on the eggs of the horseshoe crab.
The 450-million year-old crab – which is actually in the spider family – crawls ashore and lays pin-sized eggs about 6 inches deep in the sand. When there are many crabs, as here on Delaware Bay, one crab often unearths the eggs of another. Thus they leave millions of fatty eggs on the surface, offering an energy-rich, soft feast for the starving birds. In turn, we get to watch the birds racing for an egg ‘hot spot’!
The birds often arrive beyond depleted. A normal weight for a knot is 130 grams. Many arrive on Delaware Bay below 100 grams, the equivalent of a human in the throes of profound starvation. But when the birds fly north from the coast of northern Brazil, there’s no turning back. Once they go, they must go all the way.
Map of geolocator track of a South American wintering red knot
This year, migrating shorebirds faced a freak tropical storm that could have forced them out to sea, far off-course. In severe cases, some birds with no remaining fat reserves even metabolize their own muscles, like airplanes throwing out vital equipment to stay aloft. Storms can also prevent birds from lifting off on migratory flights. They are capable of detecting atmospheric pressure changes and can just stay put until a storm passes. We think this is what happened this week when a storm, followed by a strong cold front and consequent northwest winds, prevented a movement north.
The sum of these challenges was lower than normal shorebird numbers during the first week of the stopover. The Heislerville impoundments support a good number of short-billed dowitchers and dunlin, but these species usually arrive earlier than the others and probably came in ahead of the adverse winds. Yet there are very few ruddy turnstones, sanderlings and semipalmated sandpipers on the Bay.
Short bill dowitcher (c) Jan van der Kam from Life on Delaware Bay
The one exception on the Bay is the red knot. At first, we thought that only about 1,000 red knots had arrived in and around Reed’s Beach. Then Jerry Binsfeld and Peter Fullagar, Canadian and Aussie members of our team, found an amazing 7,000 knots at Gandys Beach on the northern Bayshore in New Jersey. Very likely, these are short-distance migrants, coming in from wintering areas in Florida, Georgia and the Caribbean.
Red Knots on Fortescue
Our catch results support this working hypothesis. The knots we caught at Fortescue were at higher weights than normal for this early part of the season, which would be expected if fewer very thin long-distance migrants were part of the average.
The graph shows the weight relative to previous years.
The histogram shows the distribution of all the birds weights in the catch.
Conserve Wildlife Foundation Releases New Story Map: “The Return of Bald Eagles in New Jersey”
By: Brian Henderson, GIS Specialist
Today, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey (CWF) announced the release of “The Return of Bald Eagles in New Jersey” a Story Map that provides a new way to visualize the increasing number of bald eagle pairs nesting in New Jersey over time.
For years, CWF has worked closely with the New Jersey Endangered & Nongame Species Program (ENSP) to track and restore the bald eagle population within the state. It has been a rewarding experience for all involved to witness the return of bald eagles to the garden state, and now the public can appreciate the scope of their return as well.
The recovery of bald eagles nationally and in New Jersey is fairly well known, but some may not realize that as recently as the mid-80’s there was only a single pair of nesting bald eagles in all of New Jersey. The ban of DDT, combined with restoration efforts by ENSP biologists, resulted in population increases to 23 pairs in 2000, 48 pairs by 2005 and 82 pairs in 2010.
In 2014, there were a record 146 active bald eagle pairs nesting in New Jersey. This year, 190 nesting territories are being monitored and currently 88 chicks have been reported at 52 nests; it is still early in the season so we don’t have a count for all nests yet.
“The Return of Bald Eagles in New Jersey” Story Mapdisplays the locations of all the known active bald eagle nests in New Jersey from 1985-2014. Users can choose to view the nests active in a single year or over a longer period of time. By choosing a one year interval and beginning in 1985, it’s possible to watch as nests multiply from a single nest in Bear Swamp to densely populating the Delaware Bay coast and spreading across the southern portion of the state and eventually into almost every county of New Jersey. In 2014, the only counties in New Jersey without an active bald eagle nest were Essex and Hudson.
The Story Map also highlights “featured” nests, or nests of special significance, including the Duke Farms nest which has been featured on a webcam since 2005 and the Millville nest where a juvenile eagle was fitted with a GPS tracking device in 2014. These featured nests include more information, pictures and links to pages that explore related projects in greater depth.
As the bald eagle population has reached record numbers in New Jersey, the raptors have expanded into non-traditional parts of the state, providing more and more people with a chance to glimpse this iconic species. This map highlights the ongoing success of conservation efforts and illustrates that whether you realize it or not, you’re never very far from a bald eagle nest in New Jersey!
Another Season of the Delaware Bay Shorebird Project Underway
By: Dr. Larry Niles, LJ Niles Associates LLC
Our 2015 Delaware Bay Shorebird Project began on one of the hottest early-May weekends in memory. Clive Minton, an English-expatriate Australian, and I began the project with an early morning survey of each bay beach – Reeds, Cooks, Kimbles, Pierces, Rutgers, Norburys, Villas – dripping sweat and swatting biting gnats as though it was early June, not early May. The sudden burst of summer weather warmed the bay waters, triggering our first horseshoe crab spawn providing sufficient eggs for newly arriving birds.
The birds, on the other hand, followed a more normal schedule. We counted only 400 knots, a smaller number of ruddy turnstones and, surprisingly, no sanderlings. We know the birds are en route; Pat Leary in Florida and Fletcher Smith in Georgia report good numbers of knots, but the birds appear stuck because of the unsettled weather and the rare occurrence of a tropical storm making landfall in North Carolina over the weekend. Soon enough they will come.
Red Knot Photo by: Pat O’Leary
The warm weather and the abundant crab spawn bode well for the birds – we want the early bird to gets eggs. But they point to one of the many difficulties facing the red knot and other shorebirds. Will the insidious effects of climate change unravel this elegant machine that provides horseshoe crabs eggs just at the time Arctic-nesting shorebird need them to fly on to their breeding areas?
Horseshoe Crab EggsHorseshoe Crabs Spawning
Our project is 19 years old and so provides a perspective virtually unique among wildlife projects. A long-running project of this kind has many advantages, not the least of which is the human family that has formed around our love of birds. We have nearly the same core team in 2015 as we did in 1997, losing and gaining a few team members as time marches on, but always maintaining an esprit de corp, a common purpose, a lasting bond. The shorebirds, the crabs and the many people who love the Delaware Bay owe a debt of gratitude to this team of intrepid researchers.
Photo by: Christophe Buidin
The project’s longevity also creates a perspective rare in the world of bird study. Over 19 years we have seen the collapse of the horseshoe crabs; the dramatic free fall of the red knot that resulted this year in a federal listing as Threatened; the rise of irresponsible commercial exploitation of the natural wealth of the bay; a devastating hurricane and more. And yet each year the birds arrive, the crabs spawn and our team coalesces from every corner of the world. Despite the problems and all the concern, the system persists.
But how long will the system persist?
The challenges faced by the birds grow every year. They cling to this amazing migratory bird like barnacles on a wooden boat. Crabs have not recovered from the devastating overharvest of 15 years ago. The international drug cartels still drain the blood of crabs for the valuable chemical lysate without any responsible management. All the while shorebirds, the red knot in particular, face growing threats from climate change: more frequent storms, destroyed coastal habitat, rapidly-changing arctic tundra habitats.
Herein lies the value of a long-term study. This season’s unprecedented early spawn and warm weather could be good or bad. Either way, by season’s end, the team’s dedication, skill, and plain hard work means we will know what happened and what it means compared to 18 other years.
Restoring Critical Delaware Bay Habitat for Migratory Shorebirds
By: Kelsey Lawler, Spring 2015 Intern
Photo Credit: Jan Van der Kam
Saturday, May 9 is International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) 2015! It is time to celebrate and bring awareness to the spectacular event that is bird migration. Since 1993, IMBD has been serving as a celebration as well as a call to action for migratory bird conservation.
Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey has been doing their part for bird conservation. We have developed a range of programs to increase the numbers of endangered migratory birds, like the Red Knot, since their decline in the late 1990’s.
Red Knots use New Jersey’s Delaware Bayshore as a stopover for feeding after their long journey from the Arctic and South America. Delaware Bay plays a major part in the Red Knot life cycle, so we’ve focused our efforts on restoring this critical habitat. The Red Knot migration is timed to take advantage of the spawning of the horseshoe crabs that use the same beaches as breeding grounds. Their eggs provide a rich food source for the Red Knots at a time when they are in desperate need of nutrients.
We have been working to benefit both horseshoe crabs and the migratory shorebirds that feed on their eggs, like the Red Knot, through our beach restoration projects, oyster reef construction and monitoring projects. Since Superstorm Sandy, we have successfully restored over a mile of impacted horseshoe crab habitat. We’re working to further protect these beaches from erosion and to create calmer waters for horseshoe crabs through our oyster reef construction experiments. To learn more about our restoration work in Delaware Bay, visit RestoreNJBayshore.org.
Of course, we haven’t been able to do this work alone. Volunteers are one of the reasons why these projects are possible!
Celebrate International Migratory Bird Day by getting involved in migratory bird conservation:
A Look at the Pilesgrove Eagles Nest Over Time (2009-2015)
By:Larissa Smith, Wildlife Biologist and Volunteer Manager
New Jersey Bald Eagle Project Volunteers Jeffrey and Cathy White have been monitoring the Pilesgrove eagle nest since the pair’s first nesting season in 2009. The pair has successfully raised and fledged 9 young for the past six years. This season the pair has two chicks which are currently six weeks old. Jeffrey took a photo of the nest on April 19, 2015. He then went back through his photos and found one that he taken on the same date April 19, 2009 in their first nesting season. This comparison really shows just how large eagle nests can get after years of use.
Back in June of 2014, I wrote a blog when Conserve Wildlife Foundation was contacted by Linda Oughton regarding a New Jersey banded bird nesting in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The female referred to as “Jersey Girl” recently made the news in The Reporter.
One correction, the article states that B/64 is from Northern New Jersey, she was actually banded in southern New Jersey, Cumberland County in 2004.
The Pennsylvania pair started incubating on February 14th, 2015 and hatching occurred the weekend of March 21st, 2015. It has been confirmed that the pair has two chicks this season.
CWF Releases its First Annual Report Ever Using a Story Map Format: “2014 Annual Report“
By David Wheeler, Executive Director
Technology has proven to be vital to Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s work protecting rare wildlife species over the years. Our biologists depend greatly on modern technologies to band, track, and share online the journeys of wildlife. Our webcams broadcast the most intimate behaviors of nesting birds and bats across the web. And we seek out ever-evolving communications technologies to spread the word about the inspiring stories of wildlife, from social media and infographs to e-books and Story Maps. These technologies offer newfound abilities to share complex data on multiple levels, while still incorporating the awe-inspiring photography and videos that bring wildlife’s stories to life.
Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey is excited to offer our 2014 Annual Report in a unique format that utilizes one of those technologies – Story Maps. In the past year, we have explored the wonders of American oystercatchers with our first Story Map – and now the annual report allows all of our projects to be highlighted in this interactive format.
A screen capture of one of the pages of the CWF 2014 Annual Report Story Map.
Visit the multiple pages within this Story Map to learn about Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s many projects and partnerships in 2014, and the imperiled wildlife species in need of our help. Find examples of the innovative and dedicated leadership of our biologists and volunteers. And take an online journey across the state to learn how our projects made a difference in all corners of New Jersey in 2014 – a great year for wildlife in the Garden State!
By: Guest Blogger Eric Chandler, Wildlife & Nature Photographer
Why do snowy owls from the Arctic migrate to New Jersey? I was determined to photograph these beautiful creatures, as well as research why snowy owls return to Island Beach State Park (IBSP) every year.
The migratory snowy owl population has been spotted all along the coast of New Jersey. Popular hangouts include Sandy Hook, Island Beach State Park, Long Beach Island and even further south as all the Atlantic City. Snowy owls have also been spotted as south as North Carolina.
Unlike other raptors, snowy owls spend the majority of their time sitting, as they hunt for prey from the ground. Their unique ability to rotate their head up to 270 degrees allows them to sit in one spot and scan large land areas for prey. The sand dunes at Island Beach State Park provide owls with an opportunity to scan for prey from a seated position, while elevated. Extreme winds are also present on ISBP; the offshore and onshore winds produce some pretty wicked combinations, which give snowy owls that at home feel.
The only real threat to snowy owls at IBSP is human disturbance. Like all raptors, it is illegal to hunt or trap snowy owls. Even though they aren’t hunted with rifles, they are hunted by photographers, who may step on dunes. I can’t express how many times I’ve watched snowy owls take off due to people getting too close. I’m thankful that they still return instead of finding a new migration home. Occasionally, helicopters fly overhead and the owls just watch them in confusion.
Don’t be fooled by the size of snowy owls; these birds have wingspans up to five feet and reach up to two feet tall. With such great size, snowy owls are able to hunt ducks, geese, and even large waterfowl if need be. Small rodents such as lemmings and hares are their favorite, they consume over 1,600 lemmings a year! IBSP features a wide variety of prey on their local menu such as squirrels, mice and small birds. Unfortunately, in the three seasons I’ve spent studying and photographing snowy owls, I have yet to witness a snowy owl eat. Snowy owls are diurnal, which means they are active during both the day and night. It never clicked in my head, but if you think about it, during many months in the arctic there are 24 hours of sunlight, which explains why they are diurnal. During migrations, they mostly hunt late in the day.
Over the past three seasons of photographing the female snowy owl, I never spotted a male, until this year! To my knowledge, this is the first year the male has been spotted at IBSP. The female is very beautiful, with dark markings throughout her pure white feathers, and bright, cat-like yellow eyes. I could photograph her for days. As I was packing up after photographing the female one afternoon, I saw a massive heard of photographers with their bazooka lenses. They must have spotted something pretty important, so I had to see. Could there be two female snowy owls? Once I arrived, I could not believe my eyes, a pure white snowy owl. Now, I love using the term majestic when it comes to wildlife, it’s a very powerful adjective. This male snowy owl surpasses that adjective for sure. It’s so hard to put into words how beautiful this creature is when seeing it right before your eyes, in order to appreciate its beauty. From his ability to spin his head up to 270 degrees, to seeing him squint his yellow eyes at you. His beauty almost demands to have his photograph taken. The stunning glow of the solid white plumage reflecting off the sunlight was a sight to see. I believe he enjoyed the paparazzi coverage; he wasn’t disturbed at all and sat with us for hours. For weeks after that day, every photographer that I bumped into and had not seen him since.
On an early Sunday morning, after shooting the female owl for three-four hours with about twenty photographers, I decided to venture a little bit and search for the male. If you’re not familiar with Island Beach State Park, it is a narrow, 10-mile barrier island with only one road. It’s very easy to get in the car and drive from parking lot to parking lot, but your chances of missing the wildlife are extremely high (many people also acquire a driving on the beach permit.) For me, I love being out in sub 20 degree temperatures, admiring the peaceful empty beach and watching groups of ocean birds play tag with each other. After four miles of walking, hoping to spot the male owl, all of a sudden this huge white bird starts flying towards me. He literally landed on top of a dune right in front of me! I spent the remainder of my day with him and captured some the best photographs of my career.
Underneath multiple layers with the cold wind blowing in my face on a gorgeous beach without a cloud in the sky, the sun to my back, a prime photography setting, and not a person within miles of my view, this was my sanctuary. If you want to capture the award winning photograph, you must learn patience and be respectful of the wildlife. Don’t chase after wildlife, they will come to you when the time is right. If you didn’t get your opportunity today, you will in the future.
So, now we know why this pair of snowy owls enjoys migrating to Island Beach State Park each year. They have plenty of mammals and birds to prey upon, elevated sand dunes to hunt from with almost no threat from larger predators. A few years ago, there was a eruption of snowy owls that traveled the coastline. Researches said this rare abundance of snowy owls usually occurs every 30-40 years! This was due to a large population of lemmings in the Arctic, prior to migration seasons. I find it very interesting that in Paleolithic caves in France, drawings of snowy owls were created over 40,000 years ago. That makes them the one of the oldest recognizable bird species show in in pre-historical art in the world.
From drawings in a cave, to photographs that I capture, it’s pretty awesome to share the appreciation of snowy owls from thousands of years ago. They are beautiful creatures and I look forward to their return each winter. Snowy owls migrate back to their homes in the tundra in late March, early April. With only a few months left, get out there and search for snowy owls at your local beach, but please be sure to respect the wildlife, and stay off the dunes!
Eric Chandler is a Wildlife & Nature Photographer based in New Jersey.
Eric reports that roughly three-four weeks ago the pair of Snowy Owls mentioned in this post left Island Beach State Park. Recent reports of large amounts of snowy owls in Northern New York have led Eric to believe that the owls are heading back home!
Locals residents and wildlife enthusiasts partner to save lone survivor!
by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
A lesson I’ve learned in my short career working with endangered wildlife in New Jersey is that you always need to be prepared for the unexpected. You never know what tomorrow brings.
January 2015 is the Month of the Eagle! CWF is kicking off the new year by celebrating all things eagle. Follow us on social media and be sure to check your email (sign up for our list) for weekly stories on these amazing raptors from our own eagle biologist Larissa Smith. Larissa, a wildlife biologist who has been working for Conserve Wildlife Foundation since 2000, coordinates the New Jersey Bald Eagle Monitoring Project.
By: Larissa Smith, Wildlife Biologist and Volunteer Manager
During the Month of the Eagle, we have thanked the dedicated Bald Eagle Project volunteers, the backbone of the New Jersey Eagle Project.
Our volunteers get an incredible, intimate look into the lives of eagle pairs. Read their stories:
My best eagle memory comes from May 15, 1996 — my second visit to the first eagle nest I ever monitored. Eric Stiles had called a week earlier to tell me a nest had been found in Smithville and asked if I’d like to become involved in the project. I said “Of course!” and we arranged to get together the next day.
Back then there were only about a dozen nest sites known in the state and he wanted me to keep secret the locale and everything I observed. We drove his truck into the woods out of sight, then walked in through a white cedar forest, whispering as we got close. “It’s two young birds,” he told me, “in a small nest, probably a red-tailed nest they pirated.” Both had flecks of black and brown in the feathering on their heads, especially the male, whose head and tail showed lots of brown. “They may be too young to breed this year,” he explained. “It may be just a housekeeping year.”
“Brownie” flew off soon after we arrived; his mate sat in her pine tree for the full half-hour we watched, looking over-sized for her nest. “We need to keep disturbance to a minimum,” Eric told me as we left. “You shouldn’t come back here more than once a week.”One week later, when I returned to the hiding place in the cedars, I could see the female in the nest with my bins. I unfurled my tripod as quietly as I could, focused my scope — and my heart leaped: a fuzzy blue-gray chick with big black eyes was looking back at me! Soon after, his mother stood up and called into the sky. “Brownie” was coming back.
He landed in the nest, and after more screaming, let his mate take the fish he’d carried in. She carefully pulled it apart, feeding tiny bits to the chick and the larger pieces to herself. I had never seen eagles in action at a nest and was thoroughly enchanted – but there was another surprise to come. As the female turned in the nest ripping at the fish, something flashed. I focused the scope again and saw first a silver band gleaming on one leg and next a green band on the other. She was a New Jersey bird — hatched herself probably in 1991 or 1992, from one of the handful of nests in the state in those years. That was a sweet thrill!
That was the start of a long relationship between “Brownie,” “Greenie,” and me – and the eagles that have come along in the two decades since (the nest has moved two times over those years). I am very grateful to Eric Stiles for involving me originally and to Larissa Smith, Kathy Clark, Larry Niles and all the many hard-working, dedicated folks who have allowed me to participate in this wonderful project. Thanks largely to them, our state now has an order of magnitude more nests than we had in 1996: 150+! Wow! — Jack Connor
Karin Buynie monitors the Crosswicks Creek nest @ Kevin Buynie
We have a lot of good memories through the years of eagle volunteering. None that stand out more than just being able to talk to the many people that stumble upon you trying to figure out what all the gear is for and then seeing the surprise on their face when you tell them you are watching a bald eagle pair raise their young. Being able to pass on all the knowledge you learned from our many conversations with the biologist is very fulfilling. It is nice to see people walk away knowing how far our nation’s symbol has rebounded in our state. We have been able to help 16 eaglets fledge in our seven years of volunteering. — Kevin & Karin Buynie
My best memory was to see the eagle stand up in the nest and the egg pop out.
–Ed Sheppard
Last year was my first year monitoring an eagle’s nest. I guess the best experience was watching the pair behavior, moving sticks around on the nest and then seeing them mating, which was interrupted when an immature eagle came flying by. It was pretty cool. — Karyn Cichocki
Lake Barnegat@Paul Lenzo
My best local sighting was in March of 2009 on Lake Barnegat in Forked River. From the road, as I was driving home, I saw an eagle attacking a cormorant and pulled over. After numerous attempts in the air and on the water, the eagle finally killed the cormorant. After watching for about 15 minute., I drove home to get my cameras (about a ten minute round trip), hoping the eagle would still be there when I returned. To my surprise when I returned a pair of birds was feeding on and fighting over the carcass. — Paul Lenzo
My most awesome experience was participating in the banding of a young male bald eagle chick from the Supawna Meadows nest. How awesome to actually hold the chick while blood was drawn and measurements taken. I will never forget that great experience. — Cheryl Leonard
Donna Poolake monitoring nest
“Busy day at Turkey Point: Upon arrival, one adult was in the nest housekeeping and three juveniles were in a snag about 100 feet to the right of the nest. We think these are most likely last year’s fledglings since the adult was not concerned they were so close. There was an adult that flew over the nest towards open water and out of sight. There were another four juveniles in the trees to the right of the meadow across the creek. Across the street from the crabbing business were six more juveniles perched in the trees.
Another adult flew to the nest and perched just above it. Then it jumped to a different branch in the nest tree. That’s when the adult that was housekeeping in the nest jumped up and bit the tail of the adult that just approached and was perched above the nest. Fluffy feathers floated down from that adult while he flew away towards where the three juveniles were perched and landed in a snag. The housekeeping adult that had just gone after tail feathers flew to the same snag as the adult she just “bit” and perched about 10 feet above him.
All of this caused the three juveniles that were perched there to fly off. So, she was telling him to get home and help while the three youngsters said ‘We’re out of here!'”
This is from several years ago at Turkey Point. We were observing a nest with three chicks in it that were about six weeks old. An adult was perched on a snag not far from the nest. We suddenly got a good view of a chick and noticed that he was much larger than the others. Then we realized this was not a chick but most likely a fledgling from last year. Mom was not too upset but once the fledgling started to eat the fish that was in the nest she flew over, landed in the nest, and chased the juvenile away. It seems she didn’t mind him visiting but he better go get his own meals. The chicks didn’t seem to mind the visitor but became much more active after he left! — Donna & Heiki Poolake
I was astonished to see a pair of eagles take over an osprey nest in the rear of my home several years ago. This is what started me in the eagle program. The eagles did not stay long as the red-tailed hawks and osprey were too annoying. I then started to observe nest in Brick, New Jersey and let Kim Korth know whatever I saw. One day Kim called me and asked if I would like to go and be part of a eagle banding project. I was overjoyed to go. The banding took place in Brick, New Jersey on a private piece of property. I held an eagle for about 15 minutes and it was one of the best things I have ever experenced in my entire life. To actually hold an eagle. WOW! — Richard Gauer
Is it the thrill of the first sighting of that fuzzy little head? Is it the beauty of that majestic bird soaring above with a blue background? Maybe it’s the anticipation of a first sighting of another species? Or the beauty of the area where you are doing your observation, the breath-taking sight of thousands of Snow Geese that perhaps land near-by? For us, it is all of these things and the knowledge we have gained observing these magnificent birds (and all the information Larissa has imparted to us, bless her). We feel it has been an honor to have taken part in the program and we hope to be able to continue for years to come. — Clare Luisi & Anne Stiles
Two adult eagles were perched over the waterway near their nest. But this time instead of both being on a relatively high perch, one was perched on a branch just a few feet from the water. The water level was low and the area beneath the eagle was mucky. The eagle on the low branch was studying the mucky water below. Then it floated off the branch by just opening its wings and dropping down like a parachute into the muck. It flew up from the muck with a turtle in its beak! Then as it lifted hire into the air, it banked around past us and we watched it transfer the turtle from its beak to its talon in mid flight. We are so used to seeing eagles drop their talons into the water to pick up fish, that this eagle’s retrieval of a turtle with its beak was really surprising and wonderful to watch.
— Bonnie Hart & Ted Henning
