Originally posted by jpzk On a very cold and wintery day.
Seems like winter has set a new start record: we usually do not get the "full winter" until around December 15 or so.
The Bald Eagles have been increasingly more numerous for the past few years ... Climate change?
Nice pix. We have a lot more out here too in the prairies I've noticed. In the '60's and '70's I hardly saw any, but my understanding was that it was DDT that was responsible for a significant loss in raptors back 50-70 years ago.
It was banned many years ago and around the early '80's I noted that Bald Eagles and other raptors seem to come back in greater numbers. Back in the early days out west and I would think in Eastern Canada...many raptors were shot in the countryside in the belief that they consumed a lot of stock...chickens mostly. Laws developed over the past 50-70 years + outlawing shooting of these wonderful birds.
Bald Eagles also seem to do less migrating and I believe it's partially because of more availability of food...ie; carrion...dead deer, dead farm animals in the winter.
There are other reasons I'm sure, probably a combination of factors.