Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper

  • About Us
    • Meet
    • Board of Directors
    • Advisory Council
  • Donate
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Report a concern
  • Songs 2023
  • HERYN PROGRAM
  • Partners
  • Nature Book Club
  • Gift Shop
  • Watershed Opportunities
  • Floating Classroom
  • Hellbenders
  • Survey
  • Vernal Pools
  • Sentinels
  • Kayaking/Fishing Resources
  • Video Lessons
  • Photos 2020
  • Other Events
    • Sunrise Sunset Susquehanna
    • Bridges Over Troubled Water
    • Dumplings At Dusk
  • Issues
    • Signed Support Letters
  • Engage
    • News Alerts
    • Songs 2021
    • Song Project
    • Photo/poetry contest
  • 2018 PA River of the Year
  • 10 Fun Facts
  • For Children
  • Prison Project
  • Contact Us
  • Crossword Puzzle
  • Songs 2022
  • About Us
    • Meet
    • Board of Directors
    • Advisory Council
  • Donate
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Report a concern
  • Songs 2023
  • HERYN PROGRAM
  • Partners
  • Nature Book Club
  • Gift Shop
  • Watershed Opportunities
  • Floating Classroom
  • Hellbenders
  • Survey
  • Vernal Pools
  • Sentinels
  • Kayaking/Fishing Resources
  • Video Lessons
  • Photos 2020
  • Other Events
    • Sunrise Sunset Susquehanna
    • Bridges Over Troubled Water
    • Dumplings At Dusk
  • Issues
    • Signed Support Letters
  • Engage
    • News Alerts
    • Songs 2021
    • Song Project
    • Photo/poetry contest
  • 2018 PA River of the Year
  • 10 Fun Facts
  • For Children
  • Prison Project
  • Contact Us
  • Crossword Puzzle
  • Songs 2022

Riverkeeper Reflections

Bald Eagle experience provides clarity and a catalyst for change

3/6/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
“Dad, look, a bald eagle!”

My daughter’s announcement while we returned to our home along the Penns Creek jolted me out of a mental fog – an internal debate session where I weighed the pros and cons of an impending life-changing decision with long-reaching implications for my family.
​
“I don’t see it,” I replied while blinking and refocusing to where she was pointing.
Then, suddenly, I spotted the bright white head and dark body of a mature bald eagle perched in the canopy of tall trees along the creek. A few branches over sat a second bald eagle, scanning the surroundings with a stoic, determined gaze.

Between the two eagles, a “nest” – although that word doesn’t truly do the creation justice.

It was basically a massive beaver hut suspended in the air – an interwoven collection of branches, grass and other natural materials expertly crafted to provide a safe place to start a feathery family. The logistics of building such a structure, one twig at a time, fascinated me.

How did the eagles know how to place each piece without the whole thing collapsing in Jenga-like chaos? How long did it take to create? How did I miss this nature-based miracle of a construction job along a stretch of road just a mile from my house?

The reality is that these sort of phenomenal feats occur quite often within the ecology of the Valley’s diverse outdoors-based resources. We struggle to turn away from our busy schedules, electronic-induced distractions and social media splurges long enough to appreciate some of the miraculous moments around us – and commit to the changes necessary to protect those resources.

The timing of my family’s nest-centric discovery was no coincidence. It occurred in the midst of an offer to take over as the executive director of the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association. After 14 years of building a life for my family via journalistic opportunities at The Daily Item newspaper, I found myself at a difficult crossroad.

My church, friends, family and I prayed for God’s guidance, and He answered with an eagle nest.

The bald eagle is a poster child species for how we can impact the environment without realizing it. Due to a variety of circumstances, including the usage of DDT-based insecticides in the 1950s and 60s until its eventual ban in 1972, the bald eagle population was nearly eradicated in the United States.

According to numbers from the Pennsylvania Game Commission, by 1980, the state's known nesting population numbered only three pairs. In 1990, there were eight active nests, 48 in 2000, and the growth has exponentially skyrocketed to more than 270 active nests in 2013.

As is the case for every wildlife species in our region, clean water is crucial for survival.
The Middle Susquehanna Watershed covers at network of more than 11,000 square miles of springs, streams, creeks and other waterways that eventually feed into the North and West branches of the Susquehanna River. An issue in even the furthest reaches of the watershed can have huge ripple effects not only further down the river, but also within the delicate ecological balance between species.

Moving forward, my passion as the Middle Susquehanna’s Riverkeeper is to protect and promote our river-based resources, including the interwoven network of tributaries and the species that rely on the water that flows through them.

Help us financially via Raise the Region through 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, March 12, by clicking here.

You can help the cause by volunteering to be eyes and ears throughout the watershed, and we are encouraging everyone connected to the region to take the 2020 Susquehanna Survey found here. You can report concerns, share ideas and offer financial assistance via the website, the Riverkeeper hotline (570-768-6300) or email (midsusriver@gmail.com).

The team will also be offering educational programming designed to engage watershed neighbors of all ages – especially our younger generation – as we help people reconnect with nature to find their own “eagle nest” moments on the trail to becoming better environmental stewards.
​
For updates, follow the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Facebook page and presence on Instagram and Twitter – as long as you promise to take a few moments between reading posts to get outdoors, explore and share your discoveries with us.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    John Zaktansky is an award-winning journalist and avid promoter of the outdoors who loves camping, kayaking, fishing and hunting with the family.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020

    Topics

    All

    RSS Feed

Your Pollution Hotline Number:
​570-768-6300

SUPPORT OUR WORK

BY BECOMING A SUSQUEHANNA NEIGHBOR TODAY.
​FROM CLEAN WATER FLOW THRIVING COMMUNITIES.

Middle Susquehanna RIVERKEEPER® is a member of WATERKEEPER® ALLIANCE. RIVERKEEPER is a registered trademark and service mark of Riverkeeper, Inc.
and is licensed for use herein. WATERKEEPER is a registered trademark and service mark of Waterkeeper® Alliance, Inc. and is licensed for use herein.