Eagles spreading wings in N.E. Ohio

The eagle recovery is due to improved water quality and higher canopy trees.
WARREN -- Trumbull County now has nine bald eagle nests, an increase of two from 2005, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
The ODNR said that for the third consecutive year, bald eagles established more than 100 nests throughout the state.
Tom Henry, wildlife biologist at ODNR's Akron office, said Friday that Trumbull now has nine nests and Mahoning County, three. There are none in Columbiana County.
In Trumbull, Henry said, a new nest was established on the Grand River Wildlife Area's Greentree Marsh on the border of Farmington and Bristol townships.
The other new nest was spotted on private property in what is known as the Yankee Creek Eagle Nest in Hartford Township, southwest of the Shenango Wildlife Area in Pennsylvania.
The ODNR does not give the specific locations of nests in order to protect them.
In Trumbull County, four nests are in the Mosquito Creek Wildlife Area. The birds can be seen flying along the banks of Mosquito Lake. They can be seen at the state park at the lake off Hoagland-Blackstub Road.
Three others are in the Shenango Wildlife Area. Eagles can be viewed from the parking lot off state Route 87, just east of where Pymatuning Creek flows under the road.
In Mahoning County, the three are at Meander Reservoir, Mill Creek near Mill Creek Park and at Lake Milton.
Resurgence
Henry said that the state eagle population is recovering since he started working for the state in 1979. At the time, there were only four pairs of eagles statewide.
He points to improved water quality for eagles to hunt fish and higher canopy trees -- and more of them -- for nesting.
Henry explained that the eagles are apparently becoming used to more populated areas. For example, there is a nest in a state park in Ashtabula County. For the first time in recently history, a nest was established in Cuyahoga County.
"These are certainly great times for the bald eagle in Ohio," said Steven A. Gray, ODNR's chief of wildlife, noting major roles in their recovery have come from the efforts of landowners, volunteers and conservationists.
According to the state agency, an average eagle nest is 3 to 5 feet wide and 3 to 6 feet deep.
Both the male and female birds share in the incubation and feeding of the young birds that begin leaving the nest after 12 weeks.