Results from Christmas Counts done for many years at eight locations along the Hudson estuary show that only three bald eagles were recorded during the entire decade of the 1970s. In the 1990s the same counts recorded an average of fourteen eagles each year. Identifying a bald eagle is not difficult. Eagles are the largest birds in our sky. They soar on flat wings the size of ironing boards.
Vultures fix their broad wings in a shallow V called a dihedral.
The DEC's Hudson River Estuary Program will offer opportunities to learn more about bald eagles in coming months. All of these events are free of charge. A handful of anglers will continue to brave the elements along the estuary in December. Whatever December's weather brings, don't hesitate to get out along the river. Join a local Christmas Count, look for eagles, enjoy the special light of the long winter twilight, or gaze appreciatively at a tugboat headed upriver with a barge full of home heating oil.