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Diane Jurmain writes:
We live on the 2nd basin on Chipmunk run. Last Friday, November 12th, I was sitting in my house looking at the lake at about 12:30 and saw a large, dark bird swoop down and pull a fish out of the lake in front of our house. I noticed that the bird was VERY large and that it had white tail feathers. I watched it fly over to Lamb Chop Island and perch on a tall fir tree. Binoculars confirmed that it was a Bald Eagle. I watched it make another pass at a fish and then it flew across to the far side of the basin. I could see it, again in a fir tree, for some period of time. It's white head and bright yellow beak were impossible to miss. Then the following day, again near noon time, my husband and a friend were walking down along the shore in front of our house and saw the eagle again. It flew over a couple of times and then left.
This was my first sighting of a Bald Eagle on Great East Lake. I wonder if anyone else has had a similar experience?

Hello New Hampshire Bald Eagle Watchers!

In the Great Bay/Seacoast area, the official 2005 Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey will be conducted on Saturday, January 8, 2005 (an alternate date will be Sunday January 9, 2005 in the event of absolutely horrible weather on 1/8/2005).

Beginning this winter, NH Audubon and NH Fish & Game will also be conducting a second, unofficial "late winter survey" at the end of February to give us a better index of the abundance and distribution of bald eagles in the state near the end of the wintering season. In the Great Bay/Seacoast area, our 2005 Late Winter Bald Eagle Survey will be conducted on Saturday, February 26, 2005 (an alternate date will be Sunday February 27, 2005 in the event of absolutely horrible weather on 2/26/2005).

The Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey is a nationwide count, started in 1979 by the National Wildlife Federation, but now coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey. The Survey's original objectives were to establish an index to the total wintering eagle population in the lower 48 states, to determine eagle distribution, and to identify previously unrecognized areas of important winter habitat. In 1984, the survey was further refined to focus on standardized survey routes that provide more reliable trend data. Observers now count eagles on standard survey routes on target days in the first two weeks of January. Participants include employees of state or federal conservation agencies, as well as many citizen volunteers.

New Hampshire has participated in the national Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey every year since 1981, and our participation has been coordinated by NH Audubon, with assistance from NH Fish & Game. That first year, we counted a total of 8 eagles (4 adults, 4 immature birds) in the Granite State. Last year, 2004, we tallied a total of 41 birds (27 adults, 14 immatures). To date, our state's highest midwinter count total was 50 eagles in 2002. Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey results from 563 survey routes in 42 states from 1986-2000 can be viewed on-line at http://ocid.nacse.org/qml/nbii/eagles/ .

Finally, the National Wildlife Federation has just published a very interesting article about wintering bald eagle populations across the country, which you can read by clicking on the following link ...
http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?articleId=1003&issueId=72