An annual bald eagle count in Kings County, N.S., reported record numbers of the raptors this year. The annual event, which takes place each February, spotted 605 bald eagles this year, which is more than double the number spotted in 2023, when 265 birds were counted. And it’s much more than the number of eagles recorded in the area in 1977. Only 22 birds were seen that year. Organizer Soren Bondrup-Nielsen said the rise in sightings is the result of an environmental success story.
“When the DDT pesticides were used, there were a lot of carcasses with DDT in them and the eagles would eat these and then they would be poisoned by the DDT, which had an effect on the eggs,” Bondrup-Nielsen told CBC’s Mainstreet. DDT was mostly phased out in Canada in the 1970s. It is now illegal to use.
“So [bald eagles] are increasing in numbers. They were threatened and they certainly have made a comeback,” said Bondrup-Nielsen. Since DDT was prohibited, the bald eagle population has trended upwards by over five per cent annually across the country.
Bondrup-Nielsen, a naturalist, said that eagle numbers in the Annapolis Valley fluctuate from year to year. He said the particularly cold winter this year might have contributed to the high count. He observed eagles feeding on Canada geese and ducks who wintered in the Annapolis Valley and froze on the ice. “The eagles are scavengers, so that was ideal for them,” he said.
Tally helps keep tabs on ecological health Volunteers spread out along pre-determined driving routes for the count and record every bald eagle they see for one hour. They then reconvene and tally the results. The count only lasts an hour so as to reduce the number of repeated sightings. Bondrup-Nielsen said that continuing the tradition is a way to keep tabs on the ecological health of the area and the ways human activity has impacted it. And, he said, due to the proximity of Acadia University, the high population of naturalists in the region means there’s plenty of willing volunteers.
