In 1987 the US Army Corp of
Engineers started an eagle hacking program that eventually released 44 bald
eagles from a hacking tower over looking Dale Hollow Lake. The 5
years program relied on immature eaglets brought down from Minnesota,
Wisconsin, and Alaska. Since eagles are thought to primarily
nest within about 50 miles of where they were born it was hoped some
of the eagles would eventually choose Dale Hollow Lake for their
nesting site. |
John & Karen Hollingsworth/USFWS © |
| Dale Hollow Lake straddles the
border of Tennessee and Kentucky and is winter home
to 60 to 100 Bald Eagles each year. The eagles Migrate here from colder, northern states
and Canada where lakes are frequently frozen limiting their access to
their primary food source, fish. The eagles usually arrive starting
in November and stay as late as March. The number of eagles
and their arrival and departure dates are all, at least partially,
weather dependant. Dale Hollow Lake is also home about 6 year round
resident eagles. |
In 1979 the National
Wildlife Federation started a nation wide program of of counting the
number of wintering bald eagles in the lower 48 states. In 1992 the
Snake River Field Station (SRFS)
an affiliate of the USGS, then known as the Raptor Research and
Technical Assistance Center, took charge of the program. Some of the
goals of the program were to try to determine the total number of
wintering eagles in the lower 48, determine eagle distribution, and
help identify important winter habitat areas.
|
Seeing Dale Hollow's
Bald Eagles:
Every January the US Army Corp of Engineers organizes bald eagle
viewing tour known as Eagle
Watch. This is a great opportunity for the public to view
wild Bald Eagles on Dale Hollow Lake. Dale Hollow's Eagle Watch is held on the 3rd and 4th Saturday of
January. Find out more about the
Eagle Watch on Dale Hollow
Lake. |
