Pollution once drove bald eagles to extinction along the James River in Virginia. Now the mighty birds are soaring back.
It’s a triumphant success story documented every year by a trio of men who take to a tiny plane to count nests along this major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, and then the number of hatchlings in those nests.
On a recent survey flight, they counted 220 nests — an all-time record, says Bryan Watts of the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.
“We went to zero, and we really sort of stormed back,” said Watts. “So it’s one of the greatest conservation success stories on the planet, really.”
Read more at The Daily Press.