NORTHWEST TERRITORY: Eagle-gazing is befitting on a holiday

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES — Going in search of bald eagles Friday seemed an appropriate way to get an early start on celebrating the July Fourth weekend.

It was not a long-shot effort, because seeing a living example of our national symbol of freedom is no longer a rarity in the Ozarks, where resident pairs of the subspecies of Southern bald eagles are increasing.

A mature bald eagle, for example, was seen during a recent trout fishing trip on the White River near Bull Shoals Dam. Its large size indicated it was probably a female of one of five pairs of bald eagles known to live and nest along the cold tailwaters of the river, where sightings of adults and their offspring can be daily occurrences.

Resident eagles also can be found along rivers and lakes of Northwest Arkansas and surrounding areas, such as a nesting pair regularly spotted by paddlers on the Elk River near Pineville, Mo.

Locally, the pair best known to birders and fishermen nests along Beaver Lake.

Prior to this year, the pair occupied a huge nest in the top of a tall pine tree at the far end of a narrow and secluded cove at midlake.

In a nest reported to be the size of a brush pile, the eagles successfully hatched and raised two offspring three years in a row, says ranger Alan Bland with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office in Rogers.

This year, however, the January ice storm partially destroyed the nest, and the eagles abandoned it.

They must have liked their life and location on Beaver Lake, though, because they built a new nest in the top of another tall pine about 150 yards away and proceeded to successfully raise two more young eagles.

An invitation to join Glenn and Linda Neal of Rogers and other guests for an evening at their lakefront cabin provided the opportunity to seek out the raptors.

The Neals said they had become aware of the eagles and their nest several years ago and had regularly enjoyed watching them and their young.

On a day when the lake was jam packed with boats, we waited until the quiet time just before sundown to board the Neals' boat for a relatively short trip to the nesting site.

As we idled slowly and quietly toward the back of a narrow, tree-lined cove, the first notable sights were the remnants of the original nest. Despite the damage, what was left of the nest still amounted to several wheelbarrow loads of brush.

The next eye-catcher was the new nest, partially hidden in the top of another towering pine. Although it was a first-year nest, it established the nesting pair as prodigious nest-builders because it was about the size of a bathtub.

Then, emerging from the shadowed trees at the farthest end of the cove was the distinctive snow-white head of a mature bald eagle.

We dared not try to approach too close to the eagle's perch, but binoculars brought the bird into sharp, magnified view. While there was no sign of its mate or the youngsters, one was enough.

Needless to say, it was a thrill to get back to nature to see a prime example of our national emblem living wild and free.

It also provided pause for reflection during these worrisome times when we seem to be losing our freedoms and independence.