After decades of scarcity, our national bird can now be seen frequently in our nation’s capital. These images are from Rock Creek Park:
The comeback of bald eagles is one of the most successful conservation efforts in recent times. The severe decline in the population had been largely due to the use of the insecticide DDT, and the banning of DDT plus the protection of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 meant that the population started to rebuild. Bald eagles were taken off the endangered species list in 2007. Research is now showing a new danger to eagles – the effects of lead poisoning from left-over lead ammunition in water and food sources, and hunters interested in conservation efforts are encouraged to switch to copper ammunition.
In addition to the eagles in Rock Creek Park, there’s a famous pair in the National Arboretum which is on an eagle cam and currently raising an eaglet. The pair is called Mr. President and Lotus – because in some marital psychodrama, Flotus was replaced by a younger Lotus last year. In addition to watching the eagle cam, you can follow their adventures on Twitter.
These images were captured by our co-editor Rob Klug, and guest contributor Diane Krauthamer (more of her work on Flickr and Instagram).