CONSERVATION NEWS

Bald Eagle nest abandoned near Lake Erie
Over the past two decades, the bald eagle has staged a gradual recovery along the north shore of Lake Erie, with a current population of close to twenty pairs. One of the more visible nests for several years has been in the Fisher’s Glen area near Simcoe, Ontario. This spring the eagles returned to the site, but midway through the breeding season the landowner felled all of the surrounding trees. The adults abandoned the nest, and upon investigation, officials from the Ministry of Natural Resources found a dead eaglet in the nest.

Though charges under the Endangered Species Act are rarely laid, an exception was made in this case. DeCarolis Farms, four of its officers, and an additional person have each been charged with two counts of wilfully killing, injuring or interfering with an endangered species, and one count of unlawfully destroying endangered species habitat. The accused are to appear in Simcoe court in September.

First successful Osprey nest in England since 1850s
While the peregrine falcon population recovered more quickly in England than in North America, the reverse is true for the osprey. This spring observers at the Rutland Water Nature Reserve celebrated the first successful hatch of an osprey in England in 150 years. The osprey has had a lot of help in reestablishing its population, with up to twelve juveniles a year being released at Rutland since 1996. The adult male at this year’s historic nest is one of those released in the early years of the program, and has returned to the lake annually since 1999.

Merlins shot in Ottawa neighbourhood
On August 2, the corpses of two merlins were found in a residential area of Ottawa near the Central Experimental Farm. Both had been shot. They were identified as the adult female and one of the three juveniles raised this year at a nest in a tall white pine nearby. Like all other raptors, merlins are protected under the Ontario Fish and Wildlife Act, and the Ministry of Natural Resources is investigating the death of these birds.

Merlins, smaller relatives of peregrines, have only recently started nesting in urban areas. Ottawa’s first nesting pair arrived just in 1998, and it is thought that there were no more than six territories throughout the Ottawa region in 2001. While not as rare as peregrines, merlins nonetheless are an uncommon bird, and merit protection against such senseless persecution.

California Condor hatches in the wild
The fragile recovery of the California condor achieved another milestone this spring with the discovery of the first egg laid in the wild in 15 years. Though the egg was broken during the course of incubation, experts consider this to be a step forward for the recovery program all the same. The female who laid the egg hatched in 1995 and was released near Grand Canyon National Park in the spring of 1997. Condors rarely attempt to breed before reaching six years of age, therefore this year’s egg was likely the female’s first attempt. As of this spring, the world population of the California condor was only 160 birds, including just 49 in the wild in California or Arizona, all the product of captive breeding efforts.