A cottonwood tree holding an energetic bald eagle nest in Barr Lake State Park lately toppled in a windstorm, it’s the second yr in a row {that a} nesting tree got here down.
Officers with Colorado Parks and Wildlife imagine the latest tree fell on April 6, nearly one yr to the day after a nesting tree got here down on April 5, 2021, in line with a CPW information launch.
No remnants of the nest or eggs have been discovered from the tree that fell final week due to deep water within the space. Images from a park volunteer revealed that the tree had fallen and park rangers confirmed the incident.
“It’s with a heavy coronary heart that we report that our eagle nesting tree fell down within the windstorms final week,” stated Park Supervisor Michelle Seubert, within the launch. “This was a brand new nest that they began this yr after the opposite nesting tree fell final yr. We’re hopeful subsequent yr they may select the tree we put our wire basket in. You simply by no means know what mom nature has in retailer for us.”
Unhappy information to report from Barr Lake State Park the place one in every of its nesting bald eagle timber fell down for a second consecutive yr. The sturdy windstorm final week blew it down. A second nest on the park additionally seems to have failed this yr.
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— CPW NE Area (@CPW_NE) April 13, 2022
Park employees installed three nesting baskets in cottonwood timber in November. A second bald eagle nest at Barr Lake, on the other facet of the reservoir, seems to have failed with no grownup eagles noticed there during the last two weeks, the CPW stated. A number of different nests within the space outdoors of Barr Lake State Park stay intact and energetic.
Of 95 recognized bald eagle nests that have been occupied alongside the Entrance Vary final yr, 81% hatched eaglets and 75% efficiently fledged no less than one eaglet. Numbers fluctuate from year-to-year, however a 65% to 90% vary is a probable charge of success.
Final yr, 122 nests have been reported as occupied by bald eagles within the northeast area of Colorado, in line with CPW, and there have been 246 reported occupied nests statewide. That statewide quantity is up from 82 in 2016.
A pair of bald eagles has been noticed in Barr Lake’s wildlife refuge yearly since 1986, the discharge stated. After three years of failed makes an attempt to lift younger, the bald eagle pair was lastly profitable in 1989. As of 2021, Barr Lake eagles have fledged 59 younger eagles.
Bald Eagles stay about 20 to 30 years within the wild, and longer in captivity, in line with the Nationwide Wildlife Federation.
