FARMINGTON, N.M.—Nature lovers are enjoying this time of year around the Farmington area as they share it with bald eagles migrating south from their northern homes.
Lucky bird watchers, from fall to spring, get a good look at bald eagles swooping down and catching fish and other prey along the open waters of the Animas River.
Bald eagles can be found taking it all in while perched on large, bare cottonwood tree branches overlooking the river.
Farmington resident Alan Nelson, a member of the Four Corners Bird Club, said the river trails create great access for seeing bald eagles.
“The birds catch fish along the Animas and San Juan rivers and at Farmington, Jackson and Navajo lakes,” Nelson said. “Sometimes they hunt waterfowl such as ducks and geese.”
At least 20 bald eagles live in the region during the winter months, Nelson said.
When they are young, bald eagles are a brown color. They develop white heads and tails when they grow older.
Their mortality varies, but they often live around 25 years.
The eagles spend their nights in tall trees along rivers and in canyons northeast of Aztec.
Donna Thatcher, educator for the city of Farmington’s Riverside Nature Center, recently led a group of bird watchers through Animas Park. They spotted bald eagles twice in only a couple hours.
Thatcher has seen three bald eagles along the Animas this winter, she said. She believes a male and female are mates and another one is alone.
Bald eagles nest in Colorado and farther north during the spring and summer, staying in the same spots if they successfully raise their young.
When it turns cold, they follow frozen rivers south until they reach the warmer waters downstream, including Farmington.
“Our rivers are really important for them,” Thatcher said. “They’re following the rivers south to have the kind of territory they need.”
When March arrives, they fly north.
Bald eagles were removed from the federal endangered species list in 2007, but the Eagle Act still protects them, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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Information from: The Daily Times,
