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Bald Eagles in Dayton, Ohio

Joined
Jul 7, 2015
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Location
Dayton, Ohio
Up until about 10 years ago, Bald Eagles were non-existent in my area. The last documented nesting pair in the Dayton area disappeared about 80 years ago. Three rivers (Great Miami, Mad, and Stillwater) as well as a large Creek (Wolf) merge together in the middle of our city to form the Great Miami river which winds its way South to join the Ohio River about 60 miles away along the Ohio/Ind. border. Up until about 25 years ago, the rivers had large dead zones created from a combination of low head dams, farm run off, Industrial pollution, de-icer from our airport and who knows what else. Though still not perfect, the rivers have cleaned up considerably and a lot of fish and waterfowl have returned. About 10 years ago, our first documented nesting pair of Bald Eagles came to roost on the North side of Dayton along the Mad River inside the city well field. Last year a second nesting pair appeared on the South side of the city along the Great Miami River in an area known as Carillion park. Other nesting pairs have been spotted both North/South of the city along the rivers. With the appearance of the 1st nesting pair, a small group of people who eventually became known as the "Eastwood Eagle Watchers" began documenting the return of the Eagles to Dayton with a blog on Wordpress. A couple of the guys have cameras and lenses that would rival any camera set up you would see on the sideline of the Super Bowl. They get some absolutely amazing shots. I realize that many of the members here live in areas where the Bald Eagle is fairly common, but I thought people might enjoy seeing some of the photos on the blog. If you are so inclined, you can subscribe to the blog on the first page (free) and whenever there is an update, it will pop up in your mailbox

Mike
 
That's great. It's been a big change here in Iowa as well. I'm 40 now and when I was a kid there would be rare eagle sightings along the small river running through our county. When I was in high school and just after people got really excited when there would be a handful of eagles around the local small lakes during spring migration in certain years. Today there are half a dozen nests in the county, many eagles fly through during spring and fall migration, and the other morning I hardly thought anything of it when a pair of presumably mating eagles chased each other over the frozen slough across from my house. Pretty neat to see things recover like that.

Alan
 
I saw one eagle in Pa. back in 78' and didn't see another before I left in 91' at 31 years old. Now they are an almost daily sight, very common. I get more excited to see some of the songbirds that used to be common but now are rare.
 
I'm your neighbor to the SE, along the Little Miami. I've seen bald eagles on that stream, but also on Cowan Lake. Great to see.

If you wanna paddle the upper LMR with me sometime drop me a line, wife and I like having shuttle partners.
 
I'm your neighbor to the SE, along the Little Miami. I've seen bald eagles on that stream, but also on Cowan Lake. Great to see.

If you wanna paddle the upper LMR with me sometime drop me a line, wife and I like having shuttle partners.

My wife and I love the LMR, we only paddled it twice last year though....The first time was late May and we put in at the Jacoby Rd. launch and paddled to Rte 35.....I thought it was very enjoyable, but my wife didn't enjoy scrambling over/under/ around the down trees.....The liveries don't typically get that far North to clear the river, which I think is a good thing. On another note, I stopped in at GMO last week and heard that a truck was coming through next week from the Northstar factory to drop off some boats.....Rumor has it that there is a customized Phoenix getting dropped off....That wouldn't be yours would it?

Mike
 
My wife and I love the LMR, we only paddled it twice last year though....The first time was late May and we put in at the Jacoby Rd. launch and paddled to Rte 35.....I thought it was very enjoyable, but my wife didn't enjoy scrambling over/under/ around the down trees.....The liveries don't typically get that far North to clear the river, which I think is a good thing. On another note, I stopped in at GMO last week and heard that a truck was coming through next week from the Northstar factory to drop off some boats.....Rumor has it that there is a customized Phoenix getting dropped off....That wouldn't be yours would it?

Mike

That stretch is good early. One time, we put in at the mill near Yellow Springs. Definitely a May run. Lately, we go to the Narrows reserve south of 35 and ride down to the landing by Spring Valley. Best to go during the week in the summer. Outfitters work it pretty good on weekends. Honestly, the whole river south from there is like paddling at Kmart during the summer weekends. The Mad is fun. Did you know it's a spring fed trout stream north of Urbana? Best in the spring though.
 
It was Family Day yesterday here in Southern Ontario, a statutory holiday in some provinces. After an enjoyable morning taking the shovel for a walk up and down the drive and sidewalks I retired indoors while my wife M took "our dog" for a walk down to the river. (We're dog-sitting a friends' dog while they vacation somewhere sunny, surfy and sandy. We'll settle for snowy. And the dog loves it too.) Being careful of the slippery ice along the shore M and friend stayed back a safe distance and admired the view. I'm told the sun glinted a dazzling display refracted off broken ice pans drifting in midstream. Karl the dog submarined through the snowdrifts. When they got back Karl shared the snow he collected all over the kitchen floor. M said she heard a strange cry from along the water's edge, sounding like a bird's high pitched whinnying. When she described it I was pretty sure I knew that call, so I played some Youtube recordings of Bald Eagles to see if she'd recognize them. Yes, that was it. Being mid February, time for courtship and nest building, the eagles have once again started their own family days here on the Grand River.

I'm glad to read of your own good news Mike. The seeds of change Rachel Carson sowed with her book Silent Spring have born fruit, and with the valiant efforts of so many since we may yet enjoy many more family days rewilding our valleys.
 
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By Mid -February down here, the courtship/nest building is generally complete. Historically, our Eagles are laying eggs on or around February 15th. I received a "blog" e-mail update yesterday indicating that the "Watchers" are monitoring both nests for the sign of eggs.

Mike
 
Here in Northern Illinois I pick up road killed deer and put them out in an open field. As I watch my other feeders I can look out to that "feeder" too. Yesterday 7 Bald Eagles were bickering over the venison. One adult and 6 immatures which was a great mix to see. Back in the troubled era there were very few young birds.
 
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