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Bird-Watchers Spot 22 Eaglets In Pinellas

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By MARK DOUGLAS

mdouglas@wfla.com

Published: February 21, 2009

CLEARWATER - It's a spring thing.
American bald eagle watchers who volunteer for the Clearwater Audubon Society say there are signs of new life popping up in nests all over Pinellas County.

Among the 27 active eagle nests they keep track of in Pinellas, watchers say they have spotted 22 eaglets during this year's breeding season, which began last fall.

It's a hopeful contrast for eagle watchers who are still saddened by the fatal shooting of an adult eagle while it was flying around Seminole a month ago.

One of those watchers is Joe Zarolinsky, who pulls over his pickup at the southern approach of the Bayside Bridge several times a week to observe a nest two eagles have assembled on a nearby cell phone tower. He's been watching the nest for years.
Motorists often stop to see what he's doing, Zarolinsky said, and he enjoys watching them peek through his spotter scope.

"It gives us a great deal of pleasure - people who never get to see them that closely and all of a sudden, to see the expression on their faces is absolutely amazing," he said.

Since November, Zarolinsky has been monitoring a pair of adult eagles that take turns guarding the cell phone tower nest. He keeps copious notes of their behavior.

Zarolinsky says the hatching of this season's eggs are long overdue, as is the case with seven nests countywide, according to the Audubon Society.

But a few miles away, it's a different story.

In a nest perched high in a tree overlooking the campus of Clearwater Christian College, watchers two weeks ago spotted two eaglets.

From the ground, you can see their yellowish downy heads bobbing up and down under the protective glare of adult bald eagles who take turns guarding the nest around the clock.

Zarolinsky is waiting for the moment when these eaglets first take flight - usually about 10 weeks after they're born.

"What's really funny ... isn't the flying. They can fly pretty well," Zarolinsky said. "It's the landing that can be tricky."

Young birds often miss their perch while trying to land in a tree and awkwardly tumble from the branches after the botched approach.

The eagle found fatally wounded in Seminole on Jan. 26 had been hit with a small-caliber firearm.

Eagles are no longer a threatened species but they are protected. Shooting one is a federal crime.

A reward of $4,475 has been offered for information leading to a conviction. Anyone with information can contact Janet Rider of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at (352) 429-1037.

News Channel 8 reporter Mark Douglas can be reached at (727) 536-9603.

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