Bald Eagle lifespan is 20-30 years.
Glen is smaller than Piper in fact female bald eagles typically weigh 10 to 15 pounds, while males weigh 6 to 9 pounds.
We think Glen is Piper's second mate and they have been together for the last eight seasons. (Yes Eagles mate for life).
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Sometime during January Piper laid her eggs and they hatched on February 25th.
Their territory is approximately 1/2 mile in all directions from their nest.
As Eagles go, they have adapted to a relatively small territory of just over 830 Acres, bounded by Pineville / Matthews Road to the north and I-485 to the south. Then nearly to Raintree on the east and to just across Elm Lane to the west.
Bald Eagles generally nest near water with territories that range from 2 and ½ square miles to as large as 15 square miles. By comparison Piper and Glen's territory is a very small 1 and ½ square miles.
This includes 4 large ponds; Gillespie Pond, Piper Glen Lake, Glynmoor Lake and Madison's Pond on No. 9 as well as 8 smaller minor ponds.
Approximately 40% of their territory is tree canopy
The destruction of the Gillespie property would mean a loss of nearly half the tree cover and one primary pond. Damage to wetlands that surround the Gillespie property would be immeasurable.
Piper on her nest:
North Carolina Eagle Facts:
In 1982, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission began the North Carolina Bald Eagle Project.
One of the first objectives of this project was a “hacking” program, which involved raising eagles in captivity and reintroducing them into the wild.
Young eagles were released from artificial nests near Lake Mattamuskeet in Hyde County. Commission biologists released 29 juvenile bald eagles near the lake from 1983 through 1988.
These juveniles were monitored intensely around the lake. In 1984, North Carolina’s first post-DDT wild bald eagle nest was documented just seven miles from Lake Mattamuskeet.
Today, biologists monitor over 80 eagle nesting territories in the state.
North Carolina's total Bald Eagle population may number as high as 400, with most the population either in the west and mountains or on the eastern coast. Within the Piedmont there may be as few as 80.
North Carolina is far behind states like Minnesota, Wisconsin and Florida which has as many as 1,500 nesting pairs. Which makes South Charlotte's Piper and Glen pretty rare birds
5 comments:
Awesome I never knew they lived just a mile from my home.
We need Charlotte City Council to wake up. Enough of this yapping about the environment and not doing anything.
It’s so nice to see one of them flying by in the neighborhood few weeks ago. Let’s save some trees and ponds for them.
Along with the Bald Eagles it is well known to people in the Piper Glen, Greenway and Elm Lane area that the Great Blue Heran nest in the tall trees in that wetlands. There are Beavers, marmots, Egrets, as well as several deer, owls, turtle and small fish in this whole ecosystem that we are privileged to observe. Can you imagine what multiple high rise apartment buildings will do to destroy this beautiful area?. Cement trucks, construction, sludge… Not to mention approximately 5,000+ people descending upon Trader Joe’s and gridlock ing the traffic. This City Council couldn’t give a rip about the environment and what’s at stake here.This redevelopment proposal should NOT be allowed to proceed. Please…everyone sign the petitions. Thank you
Nature Facts taken from Meck.gov: Nestled in the treetops, you’ll find the County park system’s first documented Great Blue Heron rookery. This once rare species is increasing its numbers and has now been taken off the state wildlife watch list. These greenways also host one of the strangest spectacles in nature. Once every 13 years, the emergence of periodical cicadas occurs in the woodlands along the greenways and surrounding neighborhoods. With numbers that can reach into the tens or hundreds of thousands, these unusual insects will only be seen for a few weeks in spring when they burrow out from underground, shed their skins and take to the trees where they will create a deafening chorus that needs to be experienced to be believed. We can expect to see and hear them in 2024 and then again in 2037.
https://www.mecknc.gov/ParkandRec/Parks/Greenways/OpenGreenways/Pages/LowerMcAlpineCreekMcMullenCreekandFourMileCreekGreenways.aspx
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