Three Rivers Avian Center organizing annual eagle count
Dec. 26—HINTON — Opportunities to see a living symbol of America while counting its numbers in its native habitat are coming in early 2024 to southern West Virginia.
The Three Rivers Avian Center near Hinton is looking for volunteers ready to help with the winter Bald Eagle Survey being conducted Saturday, Jan. 6 and Saturday, March 2. The surveys will be conducted from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. both days.
Experienced eagle spotters are teamed up with novices, said Wendy Perrone of the Three Rivers Avian Center. The groups are assigned into groups that count adult and immature bald eagles. It helps to have binoculars, spotting scopes and/or cameras.
"It's a great family activity and it's great for young people," Perrone said.
The annual surveys started about 17 years ago.
"Well, let's see. We started in 2006 and at that time we did a winter count in January," said Jim Phillips, the Eagle Survey's organizer. "And then two years alter we decided to look for evidence of breeding, so we added another count in March."
Phillips checked his records for the numbers of bald eagles were counted during the 2023 surveys.
"For this year, we had in the winter 79 bald eagles, which is the highest count we've had," he said. "And then on the spring count in March we had 72 bald eagles and three golden eagles. The bald eagles nest in the area, but the golden eagles are more of a winter bird for us."
A West Virginia Department of Natural Resources survey which used trail cameras placed near deer carcasses, counted golden eagles and found that the West Virginia/Virginia line and found that area had the highest concentration of golden eagles in the Eastern United States.
Bald eagles are sighted throughout southern West Virginia and neighboring Virginia. In Mercer County, bald eagles have been seen along New Hope Road, around the Mercer County Landfill, in the Glenwood area around the Kee Dam.
"There may be a nest, but we haven't been able to find it," Phillips said.
Last year, the group found 16 bald eagle nests in southern West Virginia and another 10 in adjacent Virginia.
Volunteers will be matched with experienced spotters from the Three Rivers Avian Center. Spotters with the Bibbee Nature Club, which is named after a Concord University professor, will be participating as well, Phillips said.
"We also have people from the Hanging Rock Observatory and that's on Peters Mountain in Monroe County," he added. "We'll have one fellow from the DNR."
The spotters and volunteers will search for bald eagles along local rivers including the Greenbrier, the Bluestone and the New River as well as Indian Creek in Monroe County. Volunteers are often sent to an area known as The Pits at Bluestone State Park because there are plenty of eagles to see and plenty of parking, Phillips said.
People interested in participating during the January and March bald eagle surveys can contact Phillips by messaging jimandjudyphillips@gmail.com on the internet.
— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
