Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 46
BELOW: In keeping with
their tendency to return to the
same perches, a bald eagle sits
in a tree along the Watauga
River in Carter County,
Tennessee on Christmas Day.
LEFT: This soaring bald
eagle flies over Watauga River
in Carter County, Tennessee,
above the snowfall.
B
46 BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
y the early 1960s, the bald eagle was nearly extinct in the continental
U.S. Although native to the Blue Ridge region, prior
to the 1980s bald eagles had not been seen here for decades.
Now the local population is flourishing and their sightings are
becoming commonplace. In Northeast Tennessee specifically,
reports of bald eagle sightings on ebird.org date back to 2005,
but the local population didn't really begin rebounding until
around 2010.
As a kid, I liked to draw this national symbol of the U.S., checking out
bald eagle books from the library since I couldn't see the birds in person.
Growing up in the '80s, I was exposed to lots of publicity about how endangered
bald eagles were and how important it was to our nation to save
them. I never thought it would be possible to see them in the wild one
day. Tracking their return to our region is a childhood dream come true.
Over the past couple years, I have been researching and photographing
the local nesting pairs. I have located eight nests total-in the Tennessee
counties of Carter, Washington, Sullivan, Johnson, Hawkins; in Scott
County, Virginia; and in Watauga County, North Carolina.
Some of these nest locations are known by very few people while others
are widely known, such as the nests on Boone Lake near Winged Deer
Park in Johnson City, Tennessee, and on South Fork Holston River in
Bluff City, Tennessee. These two nests have gained thousands of followers
thanks to cameras mounted by East Tennessee State University that offer
24/7 coverage of eagle life.
The area's bald eagle population has rebounded despite the fact that
the survival rate of an eagle past its first year is only around 50%. Just
this season, two of the nests I visit-the Watauga River and Holston River
nests-lost all their eggs and produced no eaglets. Also, the Winged Deer
http://www.ebird.org
http://www.BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - Cover1
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - Cover2
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 3
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 4
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 5
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 6
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 7
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 8
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 9
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 10
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 11
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 12
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 13
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Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 16
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 17
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 18
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 19
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 20
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 21
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Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 23
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 24
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 25
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 26
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 27
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 28
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 29
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 30
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 31
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 32
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 33
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 34
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 35
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 36
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 37
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 38
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Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 40
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 41
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 42
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 43
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Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 45
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 46
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 47
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Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 49
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 50
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 51
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Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 56
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Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 58
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Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 60
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 61
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 62
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 63
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Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 65
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 66
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - Cover3
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - Cover4
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