Update: Bald Eagles Move Into Asbury Park Northwest Neighborhood
National Birds set up home near High School Football Field
A pair of bald eagles have moved into Asbury Park.
For the past two months these birds of prey have been sighted at the edge of the high school football field, on the same light stanchion.
“I’ve been tracking their patterns,” said nearby resident Garrett Giberson Jr. “I go over there almost every day to see where they are and what they are doing.”
Photo courtesy of Garrett Giberson Jr
Deal Lake Commission Chair Don Brockel said the pair seem to be readying to start a family. And while he is not sure if the female is a local bird, the male was identified through a tracking band.
“He’s not a local bird,” Brockel said. “We’ve confirmed through a wildlife observer that he is a banded bird, approximately 8-years-old.”
Brockel said the male was injured in upstate New York a few years back. He was released after being nursed back to health. He then moved on to Maryland before making his way to the city by the sea.
“They seem to be mating,” Brockel said. “Where they will make a nest, we don’t know.”
The once endangered sea scavenger prefers a wetland habitat, like seacoasts, rivers, large lakes and marshes. Their lifespan is an estimated 20 years and they are known to reach speeds of over 40 miles per hour.
Photo courtesy of Randy Lubischer
“Saturday was an amazing sight,” Giberson said. “A couple of red tail hawks came into their air space and they gave chase up Seventh and Eighth avenues, then returned their perch. Their wingspan is massive – to see them swoop up over your car and up the street [is quite a sight].”
Both men say the birds are often spotted together.
“I’m guessing they are looking to build a nest somewhere in the area; on the post or in the taller trees,” Giberson said. “They are right near a great source for food.”
Although bald eagles are common to the area [with sightings in Neptune, Wall and Manasquan], Giberson said he’s never seen a pair take up residencey the way these two have.
“I haven’t named them but I was thinking about it,” he said, before issuing a PSA. “People do need to understand that they should not try to disturb them or get close to them.”
Photo courtesy of Randy Lubischer
And, although the bald eagle was officially removed from the federal government’s endangered species list in 1995, they are the nation’s bird and considered sacred by some North American cultures.
Update From the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey on the male bird in this story:
The birds were first spotted by NJ Eagle Project volunteer Randy Lubischer, an area resident, at the end of October.
Lubischer was able to get a clear image of the letter and number code on the blue New York-issued band.
Tagged as W34, the eagle was found in fall 2011 injured on the side of the road in Onondaga County, New York.
He was released into the wild on Oct 7.
Photo courtesy of Randy Lubischer
He was sighted in Darlington, Md on Nov 18, 2016, and in Maryland on March 1.
W34 looks to be staying in NJ to nest as he has found a mate, a sub-adult female, who still has dark feathers on her head. They have started to build a nest and have been copulating.
“We can’t necessarily assume that W34 was hatched in NY. Since he was found injured and not banded he could well be a NJ bird,” according to the Conservation’s written statement. “We have followed NJ recent fledges outfitted with transmitters, take long flights north after leaving their nest areas. We also know that many NJ banded eagles do return to NJ to nest. So we’ll never know the true origin of W34 but we can piece together some of his story and hopefully have more news about him and his mate in the upcoming nesting season.”
[Feature photo courtesy of Garrett Giberson Jr]
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