INDIANAPOLIS — This time of year is nesting season for bald eagles, and because there are no leaves on the trees, it is also an easier season to view them.
Indiana DNR encourages you to view them safely, which means, from a distance.
"It's a very lucky, good day if I see that little white head popping out of the nest," says Rosie Hughes while holding up her binoculars.
Hughes hikes and runs through Eagle Creek Park daily. She often stops at the edge of the park's marina.
If you look closely across the water, you'll see a dark spot in one of the trees with your naked eye. If you had binoculars, you'd be able to tell this is a bald eagle nest.
"It's a feeling of awe and patriotism," Hughes said with her hand on her heart. "It is just awesome."
Not every day can be your lucky day when watching for wildlife.
"I guess Momma's not on her nest," Hughes determined.
Seeing a bald eagle in the wild in Indiana is not that rare today. That wasn't always the case.
"Bald eagles had significantly declined, to the point of being completely gone from Indiana," explained Donna Riner.
Riner is the assistant park manager at Eagle Creek Park's Ornithology Center.
"That was in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s when the chemical DDT was causing reproductive failure for our bald eagles," Riner said.
DDT was used as an insecticide and pesticide. Once bald eagles ingested the chemical, their eggs became very fragile.
The eggshells would break when mother eagles sat on their nest, which meant the bald eagle population dropped.
After DDT was banned, bald eagle populations started to soar again. The Department of Natural Resources tracked their numbers thanks to observations from community members.
"Understanding their numbers really comes down to people watching for eagles, reporting their nests, and preserving habitat such as this," Riner said. "Thankfully, they're not rare anymore, and we want to keep it that way."
How can you help bald eagles? The best answer is to keep your distance when you see their nest.
"The DNR encourages people to stay about a football field's length away," Riner explained. "That's about 330 feet."
At Eagle Creek Park, you won't have to measure the distance to the nest across the marina, because the water will keep you separated enough from it.
"Bald eagles are particularly sensitive in their nesting season. They are taking care of their nestlings, their baby eagles," said Riner. "Those nests are used year after year after year."
Bald eagles have the largest nests of any North American bird, according to the DNR.
"Their nests are ginormous, the size of a small car inside the canopy of those tallest trees!" exclaimed Riner. "They're typically associated with waterways."
Keeping your distance, and viewing the nests with binoculars, will be safest for the birds.
"If people start to disturb them or go up to those nests regularly, they can scare those eagles away from nesting there successfully year after year, which is important to maintain a healthy population of eagles," Riner shared.
There are a few more ways you can help eagles.
Riner shared that eagles will sometimes scavenge food from the side of the road, so follow the speed limit and watch for birds of prey that may be eating near the road to avoid hitting them.
Riner also shared that bald eagles are susceptible to lead poisoning. If they eat food left over by hunters that were hit with a lead bullet, this can hurt the bird. Riner encourages hunters to switch to non-lead shots.
I asked if bald eagles were susceptible to avian influenza. Riner shared that eagles will eat waterfowl.
"Waterfowl typically hang out in really large groups, and that passes around avian influenza quite a lot," said Riner.
At this point, none of the eagles at Eagle Creek Park have the disease, but the park is watching for signs of the disease.
At Eagle Creek, you can expect to see about four adult bald eagles, plus three or four younger birds. They also occasionally see migratory bald eagles.
If you are having trouble seeing a wild bald eagle, you can also visit the park's Ornithology Center, where they house several ambassador raptors. One of these is Carson, a bald eagle.
Riner explained Carson's name meaning meant "son of marsh dwellers." She also said it was a nod to Rachel Carson, the environmentalist who helped to ban DDT.
