New Jersey
Saw a mature Bald Eagle today March 18, 2008 around 4:15 PM EDT flying over the New Jersey Turnpike about 1 mile north of Exit 7A in the area of Upper Freehold Township, NJ. It was a good size; for marking, it was missing one of its primary (or closer to secondary) feathers. I assume it was headed north, but last Spring we had one hang around this area near Assunpink wildlife management area and Allentown NJ for a few weeks.
Bart Francescone
March 12. While Driving home from work on 295 North
along side the Delaware Rivier in Bordentown, New
Jersey, I saw a Bald Eagle perched on a small tree on
the side of the highway. At first I thought it was a
red tailed hawk, I see these almost every day in this
area. As I got closer, it was quite unmistakably a
bald Eagle.
-Eric Capers
March 10, 2008
While painting the interior of a house at the far end of Culver's Lake, near the causeway, I was looking out the window who's frame I should have been painting. I was facing the lake, watching as the temperature was melting the previous night's ice. Two small ducks were bobbing near a floating disc of ice when another bird caught my eye swooping down over the lake. I assumed it was a common buzzard but when I did a double-take I discovered that it was actually a Bald Eagle. As bizarre as it sounds, this is the second day in a row I've seen a Bald Eagle. While driving up Rt 95 yesterday in Delaware, I was distracted by one soaring overhead. Today's sighting offered a closer inspection as it landed on the disc of ice and inspected the ducks for about 30 seconds before taking off and flying toward Sunrise Mountain.
Jonathan Kinney
While driving on Rt 23 N, in Newfoundland, I spotted a Bald Eagle in tree at
the Charlottesburg Reservoir. I stopped and took pictures. The next morning
there were TWO bald eagles in the tree. What an experience.
Linda Weinacker
Newfoundland,NJ
rt. 23 south, Charlottes burg reservoir.
My wife and I have seen a bald eagle at the reservoir every day this week. Today we got our first picture of it. We find the eagle resting on the only white birch tree on the northern side of the reservoir seen from rt. 23 south. This occurs at about 7am every morning on our way to work. If he/she is not in the tree he/she is usually found circling above.
Ken and Sita Goss
I live in West Deptford, NJ, just SE of Philadelphia, PA. I saw a Bald Eagle in the tree right across the street from my house on Monday, 3/3/08. It had just caught a fish in a local pond and was sitting in the tree trying to get a better grip on it.
Doug Johnstone
I work in Princeton NJ near the Carnegie Lake at the Millstone Aqueduct and I was upstairs in the office, glanced out the skylight and there was an eagle flying past! It was just a moment, but I'm 100% sure thats what it was.
What a nice treat for the day,
~Andrea Frick
Bloomsbury NJ, Hunterdon County
March 1, 2008
Driving West on Rt 173 my mother and I saw a bald eagle perched up in a tree above the road. We turned around and parked and watched him for about 5 minutes before he flew off toward the Musconetcong River. It was the first bald eagle sighting for the both of us.
S. Ronca
I saw a Bald Eagle perched on a fallen log in a lake next to Solotude Village in High Bridge N.J. He was startled by our car driving by so he took off and flew away. It was pretty amazing!
Dana MacDonald
I spotted a bald eagle along RT 23 in Newfoundland NJ on Feb 14, 2008 at about 5PM. It was sitting in a tree at the edge of Charlottesburg Reservoir.
Kathleen Barry
About 3p 2/9/08, driving down Rt 23 south by Newfoundland, NJ, saw a mature bald eagle sitting in a tree on the edge of the Charlotteburg Reservoir. I happened to have my camera with my, although it was kind of rainy and foggy.
Julia Fuhr
Fort Dix (US Army Post), NJ
Friday, February 01, 2008
I live on the Army Post and work on McGuire Air Force Base. On my morning drive to work, I always go past the pond/park near the edge of Ft Dix’s golf course to see what the waterfowl are up to. This morning, I looked up at the tall trees on one edge of the pond, and there it was! Appeared to be an adult…dark brown with a pure white head, and it was HUGE! It was sitting on a high branch and (like me) showing an interest in the ducks and geese floating on the pond. I wonder if a Bald Eagle could take a Canada Goose off the water.
Don Lenhart
What a way to start off the New Year here at Compton's Creek in Belford! Yesterday my boyfriend called me to the front door to see a large raptor off in the distance being harassed by some smaller birds because there was something odd about it compared to the harriers, ospreys, and vultures that are normally here. As is got closer, our view became obstructed by some large trees and as we waited for it to reappear, we wondered aloud, "What the heck is that? It's almost like it's an..." Just then it emerged, right over our heads, and it was an immature bald eagle! The markings and the wing shape were unmistakable and it took our breath away. We ran through the house to watch it from the back door, and watched until it was out of sight. Incidentally, the "smaller" birds that were bugging it turned out to be vultures. I never thought I'd see the day that they were considered SMALL.
A day later and we are still talking about it. We get a daily dose of both waders and raptors here and know of fairly regular eagle sightings in surrounding areas. Never have we known of an eagle sighting right here though. WOW.
Noelle Colyard of Belford, NJ.
On December 31st, while at a yoga gathering, a bald eagle soared over the lake past the Kings Grant Community Center windows. It was a pleasure to see.
Lauren Gove, Marlton, New Jersey
I live in Northern New Jersey in RiverVale, N.J. and the end of my property backs up to the Hackensack River. On December 29th, 2007, at dusk, my husband I were back by the rivers edge when we saw 3 huge birds fly and land high up in our neighbors tree. My first thought was, EAGLES!!!, but then started to doubt myself because although the shape was right, the color seemed to dark--(I now know they were immature eagles)!
We were not the only ones to notice as we immediatley heard the 5 geese that had swum in that direction a few minutes earlier begin to make distress honks.
All three sat high in the tree for about five minutes, then one flew off flying along the path of the river as far as our eyes could see. The 2 remaining eagles sat a few more minutes and seemed to be stretching their wings out. Then one took off flying about 20 feet over our heads again along the path of the river - it was quite thrilling. The last eagle waited another minute and he too was off!
Jennifer Rosalia
My wife and I live in Holland Township, New Jersey where we have 20 acres. Today, December 29th, 2007 we were sitting in our kitchen with two friends from Florida when we saw a Bald Eagle land in our backyard. We all immediately went to the window to view this magnificent sight. The Eagle stayed there for about 30 seconds then flew up into one of the trees on our property. He or she sat in the tree for a minute or two and then flew off. It was an unbelievable site because we have never seen a Bald Eagle in New Jersey. My friends have seen them in Florida and we have seen many on our trip to Alaska but never in New Jersey. We were shocked and I decided to look it up on the Internet to see how many actual are in New Jersey. I still haven't found out what the latest count is thru 2007 but did see a site that stated the Bald Eagle count in the 1970's was one and in 1997 it was up to 13 pairs. If anyone knows the estimated count thru to 2007 I would like to know because it obviously is a rare sighting.
Tom Deen
Entire Family lives in the lake in front on my house in Northern NJ.
Juanita Leon
12-18-07 Upper Manasquan River NJ
While lingering over my coffee before leaving for work at 7:00 this AM I was enjoying the bird activity in the early morning light on and over the river.
I noticed this uncharacteristically large and dark winged addition.
It swooped and glided over all the others and then came straight up the embankment towards me… it was then the shock set in as I realized I was in the presence of greatness, a bald eagle.
It landed high above in an oak tree, I grabbed the camera and went outside.
There he/she perched, white head, white under tail, and huge by local standards.
I fumbled with the camera to discover the memory disk was missing… cursed to myself then watched him take flight again, down the river towards the inlet.
Breathtaking... what a wing span!
This sighting comes on the heels of a harbor seal visiting the Marina where my husband works across the river.
I’ve lived on this river my whole life and never heard of anyone spotting a seal.
Blessings coming in many forms, seeing nature at it’s finest is an unexpected joy we need to celebrate.
Thanks to the efforts of dedicated environmentalists and the Division of Fish, Game & Wildlife these majestic creatures are gaining in numbers and sightings are possible.
Kudos!
Linda Pietsch
Piscataway, New Jersey
I am a student at Rutgers University. On December 1, 2007 me and my father were watching a high school football game at the Rutgers University football stadium. I looked up and saw what i thought was a Red Tail Hawk. but after it circled and flew closer i noticed that it was too big and had too broad of a tail to be a red tail. But most of all when it got closer we noticed the clearly white head which we had not noticed earlier because all we could see was the silhouette. It was clearly a Bald Eagle circling over the stadium. We watched it until it disappeared in the direction of the Raritain River. I plan on checking out the river bank throughout the winter to see if there is resident eagle for the winter or if it was simply a one time sighting.
Timothy Ponter
A Bald Eagle flew over our heads yesterday at approx 5pm, as it was getting dark...while we were putting up Christmas decorations!!!! I live in Cape May Court House, NJ. It was purely heavenly to see!!! We thought it was a buzzard or hawk at first but was definitely an eagle!!!
Amy Scioli
New Jersey/Berlin /Cross Keys Road. This morning I received a very excited call from my fiancée. He saw a huge bird in the distance swooping down and thought it was a turkey buzzard but thought to himself he had never seen a turkey buzzard fly like that. As he approached it was a large Bald Eagle- he was amazed. He said the car behind him as well must have been shocked because it slammed on it's breaks. He has seen several Eagles on business trips to Iowa but never in NJ. Very exciting to see them make a comeback.
Linda Howe
11/25/07 while driving along Weston Canal Road in Somerset NJ, my wife and I spotted two bald eagles flying above the Millstone River. One eagle was flipped over in flight as the other was flying towards it. It was truly amazing to see two Bald Eagles in NJ.
Fred Brittain
Friday, November 23, 2007. While driving in Tabernacle NJ, I commented to my family of the "turkey buzzard" sitting in the tree in the field to our left. It then flew off, allowing us to see clearly the white head, that had been obscured. Truly exciting to see! Thanks to all who's efforts have not been in vain!
Tyson Triplett
My Name is Lycia and this pass tuesday November 6, 2007 I was on cherryville road in pittstown ,nj taking my daughter to school. We ride this route everyday and pass a valley that has grazing cows and a cool tree in the middle of the field. I always check out the tree and have even taken photos of hawks or other birds that hang out there. To my great surprise I saw a Bald Eagle perched at the top of the tree. I pulled over to show my daughter, but was disappointed because I did not have my camera with me. We hurried to her school and I asked the school office if I could borrow their camera. I went back to the sighting and their he was, this beautiful Bald eagle. I shot a few photos but was deeply disappointed with the quality of the camera I had to use, very low res. I am attaching the photo that I took anyway. You can clearly see that it is an American Bald Eagle. This was a great day for me to get to see this sight.
Lycia Costa
Last Thursday, November 1, 2007 a co-worker & I were
outside and noticed a bald eagle flying over trees in
the distance. We watched the raptor circle the sky
for a few moments before he was shielded by
trees...The location was Gladstone, NJ near the
intersection of Route 206 and Pottersville Road-The
Willow School.
Mary Toolan
I saw a bald eagle at Waywayanda State Park in West Milford, NJ on Saturday, September 22nd. I was fascinated to be able to get within 20 yards of the bird as our boat drifted past the dead tree he was perched in. Luckily I had my small birding binoculars with me so I could see him up close. Absolutely beautiful....
Jackie Makoujy
Franklin Lakes, NJ
I live in Aberdeen, NJ. My husband, son and I were in our front yard and looked in the sky to see 2 amazing sights. A pair of Bald Eagles soared over our heads. They circled around us twice before I thought to grab the camera. We have never seen such an amazing sight!
Kim Crawford
I was driving by the reservoir in Woodcliff Lake N.J. and there was about a dozen people with their cameras and binoculars looking up in the trees. So I stopped and asked what are you guys looking at? They said there was a Bald Eagle up in the tree. So I quickly parked my car and joined in on the view. It was my first time ever seeing a Bald Eagle in the wild. The next day (today) I went back to see him again and saw him in the middle of the frozen lake feeding on what looked like a dead goose. He also had a young eaglet feeding along with him, and than he flew off into the trees overlooking the little one feeding! I do hope he spends some time here, but at least I can say that I saw him a couple of times.
John R. Lyons 3/11/07
I live in Wanaque, NJ (near Rte 287) and we now see eagles soaring above us
all the time! I had only seen eagles in the
wild on my trip to Alaska quite a few years ago, so it's wonderful to know
that they can survive, and thrive, here in NJ.
M. McManus
Mannington, NJ
While returning to my office I was driving along Pointers Auburn Road between Marshaltown and Nimrod Rd. As a pilot I notice everything that flies and on this trip noticed two large birds flying in a formation, almost seemed to be playing. At first from a distance I thought it was a typical buzzard but theses two moved with speed and grace. I pulled off the road on to the shoulder to watch this display. The longer I watched the more it seemed like a game of tag, each taking turns giving chase. As the pair passed over head I noticed the white tail and head, it took my breath away. Here are two bald eagles right above me playing. They moved back and forth across the roadway ducking around the trees and then emerging back across the open fields. At one point they met over the road maybe 200’ high and locked in aerial acrobatics and tumbling towards the ground breaking off with the least margin of error.
I decided to do some reading today to verify what I saw and sure enough it’s a part of the courtship ritual. I have seen two bald eagles while flying,l both near Millville, NJ. I have seen a single bald eagle soar along the runway and adjacent fields of Delaware Airpark in Dover Delaware. Today’s sighting tops them all !!! The breeding pair in Mannington New Jersey appears to be doing just fine!
Gary Mascelli
I live in Bergen County, New Jersey. My crew and I made two separate sightings of bald eagles on the same day. We were working on a flow meter in Haworth, NJ, when one of four that that were spotted standing on the ice of our reservoir (drinking water) flew about 20 feet over our heads towards the other eagles. I was very amazed being that I never saw an eagle out of captivity before. There were people stopping theirs cars and looking at these amazing birds. It was cool. At the end of our work day, we returned to the plant (Little Ferry, NJ) and proceeded to park the truck when we spotted two eagles standing on the ice of our lagoon beside our plant. One had a white head and the other did not. Doing some research I gathered that it was a juvenile. The youngster was flying around a lot and it came around some herring gulls that seemed to chase it away. It landed by the other eagle. I contacted my boss and everyone started flocking out the buildings to check out this rare occasion. They started flying together and locking there talons. I’m excited now as I’m typing this email. In ending this writing, I hope to see a lot of these birds in the future.
*I just wanted to mention that Haworth, NJ and Little Ferry, New Jersey are about 10 miles apart.
They were sighted 2/23/07 around 11:00am for Haworth, NJ and 1:30pm for Little Ferry, NJ.
Robin Harris
Thursday 2/22/07, Lakeshore Drive in Haworth, NJ - The first time in my life I saw bald eagles…five of them! Two were sitting on the icy reservoir and didn’t move for about an hour; only one of them appeared to be fully mature with the white head and tail. The other three were sitting about thirty yards away from the two, but were more active - taking turns flying for about thirty seconds and then sitting back down on the ice. Those three were not fully mature, but were still quite large – much larger than the more common red-tailed hawks that are in the area.
The very next day, after coming back into my work-site in Little Ferry, my workmates and I spotted two bald eagles sitting on the frozen lagoon that is on our property! After spotting them, they began to fly and perform some amazing aerial maneuvers; locking talons and tumbling through the air! To see these majestic birds for the first time and then to see two more the very next day – in Little Ferry(!), between the NJ Turnpike, Rt. 46, Teterborough Airport, the PSE&G power-plant, and on the property of a huge sewer plant…wow!
-Robert Gallo, Weehawken
Thursday, 12/21/06 in Hewitt, NJ, part of West Milford Township, I was on Awosting Road and saw the eagle perched in a tree above the spillover from Turtle Pond. I turned around, went home and got my camera and I got a photo of him.
In the past few years there have been a lot of Bald Eagle sightings around the many lakes of West Milford, NJ.
Gene Sabyan
I spotted a bald eagle this morning in Allentown, NJ (next to the turnpike exit 7A). We have a lake in town, I was on the shore
watching over a thousand geese attempting a landing, when the eagle
passed overhead chasing a white bird (maybe not a goose). That bird
landed in the water and the eagle perched in a tree. After about 3-5
min. the eagle flew out again chasing the airborne geese, he zeroed
in on one goose, caught it for about 3 seconds then continued to
chase it out of my sight. The remainder of the flying geese had fled.
Lynn Sulpy
We were traveling home from near Atlantic City to Virginia on Saturday, November 25, 2006. on US 40, just east of Woodstown, NJ, we spotted a bald eagle soaring just off the road, about 50 to 60 feet up. I was driving, and first identified, but only saw one; other family members reported two birds. I saw there was a previous report from the same location Sept 5. Very unexpected, and very beautiful, indeed!
Michael Hart
Morning at Donaldson: With Eagle. It's about 6:30 a.m., June 10, 2006, Donaldson Park on the Raritan, in Highland Park NJ. A half dozen rough-winged swallows criss-crossing low over the water, chimney shifts in the next layer up, not quite competing for the same insects and air space. Canada geese and mallards are leading chicks seemingly everywhere you look. Over the boat ramp, a red-tailed hawk races across the river, pursued by a kingbird that...did it really land on that hawk's back to peck it?! Certainly it disappeared down between the hawk's wings for a couple of seconds. It must at least have been right up close harassing the far bigger bird. There's an old "Aesop's" fable of a small bird riding on a large bird's back; was it based on someone's observation like this? Over on the pond our pair of Egyptian geese now have their pair of chicks swimming close, as a great blue heron flies low over them with a fish shining in its beak, then lands on the pond edge for breakfast.
As I turn to leave, there's a funny crumpled silhouette in the sky over the river. In the binoculars it becomes the bald eagle, back in Highland Park for the fifth year in a row (since 2002), a full adult with white head and tail clear. Now with its wings half folded in this crumpled shape, it stoops down in stages. It drops strangely slowly as it carefully lines up on a fish that it finally picks from the river surface, and heads back up to eat elsewhere. As the eagle starts to depart, but is still in my binoculars, the red tail returns, now without its pursuing kingbird, and the two great raptors cross paths, both at once in the field of my binoculars, heading toward the opposite sides of the river. We can't promise an eagle every day, but mornings at Donaldson Park can sometimes be more of a "wild nature" experience than one might expect in so urban a part of the nation's densest state. By the way, for a broader view of where the eagles are, there's a web site tracking bald eagle reports that people send in nationwide. 6/2006
Courtesy of Arnold Clayton Henderson
Highland Park (NJ) Environmental Commission
I was driving to work about 8am this rainy, morning and saw a large bird with a white head pearched on the far bank or the Raritan river. pulled over and worked my way down to the river edge and sure enough, the bird took flight and was clearly a bald eagle with white head and tail. It followed the river to the east and was only a couple of miles from the village of Raritan. That sure made my morning. Courtesy of Lawrence Hegarty
On 3/29/06, in Matawan, we saw a bald eagle in the marshes near the train
station. It was truly unbelievable - it soared around, and then dived down
and came up with a big fish in it's mouth! I saw a barred owl at
Thanksgiving, and I thought that was great, but this was the most amazing
thing I have ever seen. I took some amazing pictures! Courtesy of Robin A. Mandell
On Jan. 15, 2006 at about 11:00 AM I saw a pair of bald eagles. I had just finished plowing a driveway, I got out my truck & looked out over the reservoir just in time to see these two bald eagles just gliding along. This was in Old Tappan, NJ. Before this I have only seen bald eagles in the zoo. I was blown away to see two of them right here in New Jersey! Courtesy of Matt Traudt
Driving along Lake Shore Drive, along the Oradell Reservoir, in the heavily populated area of Bergen county, Northern New Jersey ( 9 miles from NY City) I counted and positively identified Eight American Bald Eagles. I grew up in the area and I'm an avid Fisherman and Hunter as well as avid observer of Hawks, Eagles and Ospreys. As I have seen many brief sightings of Eagles, I have never witnessed 8 at one time. There were at least 3 mature adults and 5 immature birds. Courtesy of Al Barrera, New Milford, New Jersey
January 14, 2006. - full moon -
We live on a small tributary of the Navasink River in just inside
Ocean County, NJ and at noon day my husband looked out our window and saw
a beautiful bald eagle sitting on the second branch of our huge Oak
tree. It sat for about three minutes and then
flew away. It was a magnificent sight, we both were excited and
enjoyed it and are now on a constant eagle watch
yet, we think it was a once in a lifetime moment. It was huge and
beautiful. Courtesy of Karen Muldoon
I couldn't believe it--am 34 years old, grew up in Kingwood Township in rural Hunterdon County, and never saw a bald eagle until today. Was driving north on Route 29 just past Fairview Rd (a few miles south of Frenchtown). I looked up, expecting to see another buzzard or soliatary hawk but was astounded to see the while head and tail feathers of a majestic bald eagle soaring over the cliff which flanks the Delaware River. I pulled the car over and watched in amazement with my two little boys, who are 1 and 3 years old. It swooped around and gave us quite a show. I'm so happy to see it in its natural habitat. September 20, 2005. Courtesy of Jessica Hickman-Beard
Sept. 5, 2005 - On Rt 40 just east of Woodstown, New Jersey I spotted a magnificent mature eagle soaring over the cornfields. What a sight!! Courtesy of Lydia A DeHope |