Eagles nested in Delaware County this year for the first time since the 1940s, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, which releases an eagle survey every year to recognize the national bird in time for the Fourth of July.
Debbie Beer, a Delaware County birder and volunteer nest monitor for the state Game Commission, has kept a vigil for the Philadelphia birds for months.
"This is an extraordinary phenomenon . . . that this pair of eagles has chosen to nest right inside the city lines and has been able to raise its young successfully," Beer said.
Last year, the same eagles, presumably, built a nest in a remote area of the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
The disclosure touched off much ballyhoo, from cheers that the city had scored an environmental coup to concerns that overenthusiastic onlookers would scare the adults away.
This year, the commission would not say where the nest was. Beer would say only that it was inaccessible and all but invisible because of surrounding vegetation.
The eagle renaissance dates to 1983, when just three nests remained statewide. Pennsylvania began a reintroduction program, bringing in 88 Canadian birds over the next seven years.
Now, those eagles have produced 1,100 young and the population has increased 15 percent a year. In all, Pennsylvania has 140 or more nests in 47 of its 67 counties.
Bucks County has four nests, up two from last year.
Montgomery County has one nest, long known to be at Green Lane Reservoir, where birders maintain a nest watch from a nearby boat ramp.
Chester County has three nests, including one near Phoenixville.
"The fact that you have bald eagles nesting in Southeastern Pennsylvania speaks volumes about environmental recovery and the resilience of this species," said Jerry Feaser, a spokesman for the Game Commission. "It's just great news."
